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THE 


Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Hades  ; 

COMPRISING  AN  INQUIRY  INTO 

THE  STATE  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  AND  WICKED 

DEAD  BETWEEN  DEATH  AND  THE 

GENERAL  JUDGMENT, 

AND   DEMONSTRATING   FROM   THE   BIBLE   THAT  THE  ATONEMENT 

WAS    NEITHER   MADE   ON   THE    CROSS    NOR 

YET   IN   THIS   WORLD. 


REY.    GEORGE    BARTLE,    D.D., 

PRINCIJ^  OF  WALTOff  COLLEGE,    LIVERPOOL. 

V^       or  THE  ^      \ 


or  THE 

fUNIVEESITY 

leS^^^-^^df^.-g^SfN  V.  39. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

J.    B.    LIPPIlSrCOTT    &    CO. 

1869. 


i 


^z^"?? 


his    fflork  is   1  cditatcH 


BY    PERMISSION 


LEOPOLD  IMMANUEL  RUECKERT,  D.D., 

DEAN  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  FACULTY  AND   PROFESSOR  OF 
DIVINITY   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  JENA, 


AS  A   MARK  OF  p'roVoUND    ESTEEM, 


HIS  OBEDIENT  AND  GRATEFUL  ALUMNUS, 

THE  AUTHOE. 

Jena,  July,  1869. 


ooi^rTEiNrTS. 


PAGE 

Introduction •       .       .    17 


CHAPTER  I. 

Death  the  destined  portion  of  all  men — The  time  of  its  arrival  un- 
certain— God's  prerogative — Man's  ignorance — The  Almighty's 
supreme  wisdom — His  universal  goodness — God's  dealings  with 
Pharaoh  in  reality  no  exception — The  innocent  not  involved 
with  the  guilty — Jehovah's  method  of  treating  the  Egyptians 
characteristic  of  His  righteousness — Why  Moses  was  commanded 
to  appoint  a  particular  time  for  the  working  of  certain  miracles 
— The  investigation  of  the  intermediate  state  a  duty  incum- 
bent upon  Christians  in  general  and  ministers  of  the  gospel 
in  particular — The  leading  questions  propounded  for  solution 
in  the  course  of  the  work — Reasons  for  deviating  somewhat 
from  Scripture  in  dealing  with  the  subject  of  Hades  .        .        .25 


CHAPTER  IL 

Mode  of  conducting  the  inquiry  into  Hades — Six  different  opin- 
ions respecting  death  and  its  consequences — Death  not  the  ex- 
tinction of  man — Human  beings  not  descended  from  apes, 
monkeys,  or  gorillas — A  line  of  noble  ancestry  highly  esteemed 
by  most  men — Such  discussions  futile — God  not  exalted  by  them 
— Every  nature  in  the  universe  under  law — Transformation  of 
a  gorilla  into  a  man  an  impossibility — No  radical  change  in 
the  nature  of  an  animal — ^Various  senses  of  the  word  soul  in  the 
Bible 30 


CHAPTER  IIL 

The  text  supposed  by  some  to  teach  that  death  is  the  extinction  of 
man — A  bad  explanation  worse  than  no  explanation — The  dili- 
gent inquirer  after  truth  often  disappointed  when  consulting 

(V) 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

the  Scriptural  expositors — Bishop  Patrick's  Commentary  on 
Psalm  vi.  5 — Further  consideration  of  the  first  opinion  concern- 
ing death — Mind  and  matter  essentially  contrary  to  each  other 
— Motion  the  result  of  thought — Matter  passive — Mind  active 
— Matter  obeys — Mind  commands — Instrumentality  the  only 
connection  between  mind  and  matter — Matter  destructible — 
Mind  indestructible — Diflference  in  the  creation  of  vegetables, 
animals,  and  man — The  common  view  as  to  the  derivation  of 
the  word  Adam  erroneous 38 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Application  of  Hebrew  terms — Adam  gave  names  to  all  the  ani- 
mals— The  name  Adam  given  by  God  Himself — Meaning  of 
the  term  Adam — Why  so  called — Our  Lord  named  Jesus  before 
His  incarnation — No  other  created  intelligence  denominated 
Adam — Genesis  ix.  5  explained — God  inflicts  punishment  on  the 
suicide — Derivation  of  the  word  Adam — Job  xix.  25,  26,  27 — 
New  translation — Explanation — Error  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion— Future  disembodied  state — The  words  of  our  Lord  on 
quitting  this  world — First  opinion  without  foundation — Death 
not  the  termination  of  man's  existence 43 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  good  and  bad  not  intermingled  in  the  next  world — Both  una- 
voidably mingled  in  this  world — Death  closes  the  probationary 
state  of  man — Judas  Iscariot — His  final  doom — The  righteous 
dead  rest  from  their  labors — Dives  and  Lazarus — Prayers  of 
no  avail  after  death — This  present  world  the  place  of  man's 
probation — All  covenants  have  conditions — Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah— Parable  of  the  wheat  and  tares — Why  the  wicked  are  not 
severed  from  the  righteous  in  this  world 49 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Third  opinion  as  to  the  state  of  the  dead — Not  a  state  of  sleep — 
Composition  of  man — Man  endowed  with  two  lives — Animal 
and  spiritual  life — Instinct  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the 
animal  life — Spiritual  life  characterized  by  reason  and  con- 
science— Spiritual  life  liberated  by  the  destruction  of  the  ani- 
mal life — God's  mode  of  governing  matter,  animals,  and  man — 
Man's  superiority— His  power  to  resist  the  will  of  God — Man 
passes  through  three  stages — Not  philosophically  true  to  say 
the  departed  are  dead — Primary  essential  attribute — AVhcrein 
it  consists — Primary  essential  attribute  of  the  soul — Texts  of 


CONTENTS.  vii 

PAGE 

Scripture  alleged  in  support  of  the  soul's  sleeping  between 
death  and  the  general  judgment — A  sleeping  soul  not  an  un- 
conscious soul 54 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  dead  not  in  a  state  of  insensibility — Signification  of  the  word 
"  sleep  "  in  its  application  to  the  departed — Words  used  in  the 
Greek  Testament  respecting  the  deceased — 'Airodv^aKELV  applied 
both  to  men  and  brutes — KoifLav  and  Kadevdeuv  used  in  refer- 
ence to  dead  men — Awaking  presupposes  sleeping — Explana- 
tion of  Acts  vii.  60 — Difference  in  signification  between  the 
words  "  to  be  dead/'  and  "  to  be  asleep  " — Why  men  after  death 
are  said  to  sleep — Death  separates  a  man's  soul  and  body — 
Animals  extinguished  by  death — I.  Cor.  xv.  6  explained — 
Man's  resurrection  intimated  by  the  word  "  sleep  " — Scripture 
proofs  for  the  consciousness  of  departed  souls   .        •        ..       .61 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Fourth  opinion — Purgatory — Romanists  not  acquainted  with  the 
locality  or  pangs  of  purgatory — Five  texts  advanced  by  the 
Papists  in  proof  of  purgatory — The  doctrine  as  now  professed 
in  the  Church  of  Rome  not  heard  of  till  500  years  after  Christ 
— St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  xii.  31,  32 — Period  of  human  redemp- 
tion— Its  commencement — Its  end — Characteristics  of  both — 
Son  of  man — When  Christ  ceases  to  be  called  the  Son  of  man — 
The  time  when  He  will  assume  the  title  of  King — "  Neither  in 
this  world  nor  in  the  world  to  come" — Import  of  these  words — 
Belief  of  the  Jews  in  reference  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins — 
Examples — Remission  of  sins  at  the  judgment-day — Explana- 
tion of  the  Second  of  Maccabees  (xii.  43-45) — The  Apocrypha 
not  inspired — Explanation  of  the  First  of  Cor.  iii.  15 


CHAPTER  IX. 

St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  v.  26. — Explanation  of  our  Lord's  advice  to 
the  debtor — Neither  friends  nor  relatives  to  liquidate  the  debt 
— Reconciliation  with  God  indispensable  on  this  side  the  grave 
— Death  puts  man  beyond  the  pale  of  change — Extraordinary 
text  of  Scripture — Much  learning  exhibited  in  discussing  it — 
Several  opinions  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  text  in  question — 
None  of  them  correct — A  necessary  rule  to  be  observed  in  the 
interpretation  of  Scripture — The  word  of  God  not  contradic- 
tory— The  impropriety  of  deducing  doctrines  without  sufiicient 
discrimination  from  isolated  texts — Scripture  to  be  compared 
with  Scripture — True  love  to  man  proceeds  from  love  to  God   .     75 


viii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PAGE 

The  view  which  regards  the  "  spirits  in  prison"  as  the  happy  souls 
in  Paradise  cannot  be  true— Our  Lord  did  not  goto  heaven  be- 
tween His  death  and  resurrection — Otherwise  He  ascended  into 
heaven  twice  during  His  sojourn  on  the  earth — No  one  can  be 
ascending  into  heaven  while  he  is  descending  into  hell — No 
amount  of  sophistry  can  prove  heaven  and  hell  to  be  identical — 
The  great  work  of  Redemption  not  completed  on  the  cross — The 
twofold  character  of  Christ — His  humanity — His  Godhead — 
Christ  addressed  as  God  by  the  penitent  thief — Our  Lord's  om- 
nipresence— His  ubiquity  set  forth  in  Psalm  139 — Christ  a  sub- 
stitute for  man — Jesus  could  not  be  regarded  simply  as  a  man 
by  the  penitent  malefactor — The  second  interpretation  incor- 
rect— The  third  and  fourth  views  untenable — The  fifth  inter- 
pretation insisted  upon  by  the  Romish  Church — The  errors  into 
which  the  commentators  so  generally  fall 80 


CHAPTER  XL 

If  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  be  true,  certain  conclusions  follow — 
The  first  inference,  There  are  two  states  of  probation — Second 
inference,  The  insuflSciency  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ — Third 
inference,  Human  suffering  required  to  supplementalize  the  sac- 
rifice of  Christ — Fourth  inference.  The  disease  greater  than  the 
intended  remedy — The  fifth  inference,  Christ's  merits  exceeded 
by  the  demerits  of  Adam — The  sixth  inference,  Moral  virtue 
produced  by  the  confinement  of  a  wicked  soul  in  prison — The 
seventh  inference,  Scripture  forbids  sin,  and  still  encourages 
man  to  persist  in  it — The  eighth  inference,  Our  Lord's  words  of 
warning  deprived  of  their  efficacy — The  ninth  inference.  Prayer 
ofi'ered  by  the  living  on  behalf  of  the  dead  effectual  in  the 
sight  of  God — The  tenth  inference,  Man  justified  by  works 
rather  than  by  faith — The  first  inference  proved  to  be  unscrip- 
tural — God  delighteth  in  mercy — Second  commandment — Pur- 
gatory should  be  rejected  on  the  ground  of  mercy — The  degree 
of  punishment  inflicted  ought  to  be  in  exact  proportion  to  the 
sin  committed — Scripture  proofs — If  men  are  not  pardoned 
here,  there  is  no  hope  for  them  hereafter — Death  changes  a 
man's  condition,  but  not  his  nature — Two  states  of  probation 
incompatible  with  the  tender  mercy  of  the  Lord — The  antedi- 
luvians, their  wickedness,  and  its  consequences  —  No  other  . 
nations  to  be  condemned  by  them — Why  not — Why  God  short- 
ened their  days — The  people  of  Nineveh  shall  rise  in  the  judg- 
ment against  the  Jews  of  our  Lord's  day — One  servant  to  be 
beaten  with  many  stripes,  another  with  few — The  reason  as- 
signed for  this  distinction 81 


CONTENTS.  ix 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE 

The  sacrifice  of  Christ  more  than  sufficient  to  make  atonement  for 
human  transgression — Proofs  from  Scripture — The  atonement 
proved  by  the  resurrection  of  Christ — Scripture  proofs — The 
Communion  Service  in  reference  to  the  satisfaction  made  by  the 
blood  of  Christ — If  men  are  purified  in  some  purgatorial  region, 
they  must  leave  this  world  neither  in  a  state  of  justification  nor 
condemnation — If  the  best  of  men  suffer  in  purgatory,  why  did 
the  penitent  thief  escape  that  place  of  punishment  ? — Scripture 
recognizes  only  two  classes — Proofs  adduced  from  the  Bible — 
The  consequences  of  Adam's  transgression  and  the  effects  of 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ  compared — Adam  only  a  man — Christ 
both  God  and  man — Confinement  in  prison  may  deter  from  the 
commission  of  crime,  but  can  never  produce  moral  virtue  and 
love — God's  means  of  bringing  men  to  salvation  are  kind  and 
persuasive — Purgatory  a  region  of  punishment — Very  few  in- 
stances, if  any,  of  a  man's  being  morally  improved  by  incar- 
ceration  89 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  seventh  inference — Belief  in  purgatory  not  calculated  to  en- 
courage virtue — Men  influenced  more  by  the  present  than  by 
future  time — The  terrors  of  the  general  judgment  disregarded 
by  many  believers — If  the  Bible  is  true,  the  doctrine  of  purga- 
tory must  be  false — Purgatory  irreconcilable  with  the  tender 
mercy  of  Jehovah — Inference  eight — The  chance  of  pardon  in 
the  world  to  come  renders  our  Lord's  threatenings  inefi'ectual — 
The  silence  of  the  Jews  when  warned  by  our  Blessed  Lord 
about  dying  in  their  sins  shows  they  did  not  expect  forgiveness 
on  the  other  side  the  grave — Inference  nine — The  prayers  of 
the  living  not  effectual  on  behalf  of  the  dead — Death  followed 
by  a  separation,  but  not  immediately  by  the  general  judgment 
— Inference  ten — Men  are  justified  by  faith,  and  not  by  works 
— Scripture  proofs — Men  unprofitable  servants  when  they  have 
done  all  they  are  commanded — The  righteous  who  shall  be 
found  alive  upon  the  earth  at  the  second  advent  of  Christ  will 
not  pass  through  purgatory,  which  is  a  proof  that  there  is  no 
such  place 94 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

I.  Peter  iii.  17-22  considered — The  explanation  commonly  given 
that  Christ  preached  by  His  Spirit  in  Noah  during  the  time 
the  Ark  was  being  prepared  proved  to  be  absurd — The  spirits 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

visited  by  Christ  were  in  their  disembodied  state,  and  that 
which  was  effected  by  Christ  was  done  during  His  disembodied 
state,  or  the  time  which  elapsed  between  His  Crucifixion  and 
Resurrection — Assuming  that  Christ  actually  preached  to  the 
spirits  in  Hades,  it  undoubtedly  follows  that  God  is  changeable, 
and  by  comparison  it  also  follows  that  He  is  partial  in  His 
mercy — The  text  considered  under  three  heads — It  is  unscrip- 
tural  to  assert  that  the  spirits  in  Hades  could  be  removed  to 
Paradise,  even  if  they  had  repented — Christ's  sojourn  in  Hades 
was  a  continuation  of  His  sufferings  for  human  transgression — 
If  forgiveness  is  possible  in  the  next  world,  why  did  not  God 
extend  His  mercy  long  before  to  the  antediluvians  ?  —  The 
wicked  dead  either  do  not  repent  at  all,  or  their  repentance  is 
of  no  avail — Hence  their  unchangeable  condition  in  the  next 
world 99 


CHAPTER  XV. 

I.  Peter  iii.  19,  critically  examined — The  word  in  the  original,  trans- 
lated "preached,"  fully  discussed — If  the  word  "preached,"  in 
the  text,  has  the  same  signification  that  it  generally  has,  why 
not  followed  by  an  objective  case? — Christ's  preaching  to  the 
spirits  in  prison  objected  to  on  the  ground  that,  unlike  every 
other  step  in  the  redemptive  history,  it  was  neither  foretold  nor 
foreshadowed — Christ's  position  and  condition  while  in  Hades 
incompatible  with  preaching — The  opinion  that  Christ  preached 
to  the  antediluvians  with  a  view  to  their  reformation  contra- 
dicted by  the  context — The  true  interpretation  of  the  passage 
implies  that  Christ  suffered  after  death — Peter  shown  clearly  to 
contradict  himself,  if  the  common  explanation  of  the  text  be 
correct — The  pains  of  dying  and  the  pains  of  death  contrasted 
— The  things  the  Bible  declares  to  have  been  done  to  Christ  and 
for  Christ  considered — David's  prediction  of  our  Lord's  suffer- 
ings in  Hades — Peter's  intention  in  using  the  designations 
Christ  and  Jesus  Christ  throughout  the  Epistle  .        .        .  107 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  necessity  and  importance  of  attending  to  certain  prophetic 
passages  of  Scripture — The  true  condition  of  Christ's  soul 
during  its  separation  from  the  body — Christ's  suffering  in 
Hades  clearly  prefigured  by  a  remarkable  event  in  the  life  of 
Joseph — The  cause  generally  given  of  our  Lord's  agony  in  the 
garden  of  Gethsemaue  unreasonable  and  antiscriptural — His 
sufferings  both  in  the  garden  and  on  the  cross  reasonably  and 
Scripturally  accounted  for — If  Christ  made  full  atonement  on 
the  cross,  why  manifest  such  anguish  of  soul  at  the  moment  of 
victory — Why  the  two  thieves  manifested  no  signs  of  terror 
in  the  face  of  eternity 117 


CONTENTS.  xi 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

PAGE 

Additional  passages  adduced  in  proof  of  Christ's  sufferings  in 
Hades — Psalm  (cxvi.  3,  4)  shown  to  be  exclusively  applicable 
to  Christ — If  the  commonly  received  explanations  of  Isaiah 
(liii.  9)  be  admitted,  a  discrepancy  between  the  Prophet  and 
the  Evangelist  (St.  Matthew)  must  be  admitted — The  text  liter- 
ally translated  and  explained — The  predictions,  *^  He  was  num- 
bered with  the  transgressors,"  and  "He  made  His  grave  with 
the  wicked,"  were  literally  fulfilled  in  Christ's  death,  the  former 
while  undergoing  His  physical,  and  the  latter  while  suffering 
His  spiritual  death 124 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Jonah  ii.  1-4  explained — A  remarkable  event  in  the  life  of  Jonah 
typical  of  our  Lord's  suffering  in  Hades — The  event  referred 
to  by  Christ  Himself — The  leading  points  of  resemblance  be- 
tween the  type  and  the  antitype — The  important  lessons  thereby 
taught — The  passage  in  Jonah  shown  to  refer  exclusively  to 
Christ — The  notion  that  the  Prophet  being  in  the  belly  of  the 
fish  represented  our  Lord's  dead  body  in  the  grave  refuted — 
The  deliverance  of  the  Israelites  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt 
preceded  by  three  days'  darkness — The  salvation  of  the  world 
the  result  of  our  Lord's  sojourn  in  Hades — Import  of  the  three 
hours'  darkness  at  the  crucifixion — Reasons  why  so  many  have 
been  led  to  believe  the  work  of  the  atonement  was  finished  on 
the  cross — No  allusion  to  Redemption  in  the  words  "It  is  fin- 
ished"— Why  Christ  could  not,  and  did  not,  refer  to  the  atone- 
ment when  He  said,  "  It  is  finished  " 133 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  words  "It  is  finished"  could  not  refer  to  the  fulfillment  of 
every  prediction  and  typical  representation  respecting  the 
atonement — The  predictions  of  Christ  divided  into  two  classes — 
Prophecies  fulfilled  during  His  agonies  on  the  cross — Prophe- 
cies fulfilled  subsequent  to  His  crucifixion  and  resurrection — 
The  fulfillment  of  the  latter  prophecies  absolutely  necessary  for 
man's  redemption — The  word  "  It"  in  the  passage  "  It  is  fin- 
ished" shown  not  to  refer  to  the  work  of  Redemption,  but  to 
the  fulfillment  of  a  particular  prophecy  uttered  by  the  Psalmist 
— John  xvii.  4  explained — The  works  wrought  by  Christ  before 
His  crucifixion — The  importance  of  distinguishing  between 
things  done  by  Christ  and  to  Christ — Granting  the  atonement  to 
have  been  completed  on  the  cross,  great  difficulties  present 


xii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

themselves — If  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  substitution  be  main- 
tained, a  belief  in  a  full  expiation  for  original  and  actual  sins 
by  physical  death  must  be  abandoned — Physical  death  either 
a  consequence  oi  man's  disobedience,  or  it  is  not — If  not  a 
consequence,  then  death  must  have  been  engendered  in  Adam 
at  his  creation — If  Christ  made  full  satisfaction  for  all  the  con- 
sequences of  man's  disobedience,  how  is  it  that  death  has  still 
dominion  over  us  ? — If  Christ  died  to  deliver  us  from  spiritual 
death  only,  then  our  redemption  is  but  partial — Certain  infer- 
ences   139 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  atonement — The  time,  place,  and  manner  in  which  it  was 
effected — The  design  of  the  prohibition  given  to  Adam — The 
consequences  of  its  violation — Four  deaths  spoken  of  in  Scrip- 
ture— Two  of  these  are  the  natural  inheritance  of  every  child 
of  Adam,  and  are  experienced  in  the  present  world — The  other 
two  are  experienced  in  the  next  world — Did  disobedience  ema- 
nate from  the  soul  or  from  the  body  of  Adam  ? — The  soul  clearly 
shown  to  have  sinned,  while  the  body  was  merely  the  instru- 
ment— On  the  principle  of  justice  the  atonement  must  be  made 
by  the  Soul — Christ's  mental  anguish  in  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane  not  sufficient  to  make  full  expiation — The  Jewish  sacri- 
fices foreshadow  Christ's  atonement  in  the  next  world — The 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  alone  saved  the  lives  of  the  Israelites — 
The  dying  and  the  death  of  the  victim  only  preliminaries  to  the 
expiation  of  sin 147 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  subject  of  expiation  continued — The  atoning  efficacy  of  the 
Jewish  sacrifices  consisted  in  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood — The 
view  that  the  atonement  was  completed  on  the  cross  contra- 
dicted by  the  typical  import  of  the  two  goats  on  the  Jewish  day 
of  atonement — The  different  explanations  given  of  that  portion 
of  Leviticus,  chapter  xvi.,  which  refers  to  the  two  goats — These 
explanations  shown  to  be  erroneous — AVhy  were  goats  selected 
on  this  particular  occasion  to  be  sacrificed  ? — Why  did  the  Lord 
order  neither  more  nor  fewer  than  two  goats  ? — What  reason 
was  there  for  casting  lots  ? — These  questions  fully  and  satis- 
factorily answered — The  slain  goat  typical  of  Christ's  physi- 
cal death,  and  the  scapegoat  prefigured  His  descent  into 
Hades 154 


CONTENTS,  xiii 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PAGE 

The  typical  import  of  "the  sprinkling  of  the  blood" — The  two 
goats  typified  the  "deaths"  spoken  of  by  Isaiah  in  reference  to 
Christ — The  goat  whose  blood  was  shed  represented  Christ  on 
Calvary,  the  scapegoat  prefigured  Christ  in  Hades — The  doc- 
trine of  substitution  inculcated  by  the  sin-offering  of  the  two 
goats — The  exact  meaning  and  import  of  "wilderness"  to 
which  the  scapegoat  was  banished — Another  reason  why  Christ 
suffered  in  Hades,  is  that  the  people  of  the  old  as  well  as  those 
of  the  present  world  may,  on  the  judgment-day,  bear  testimony 
to  the  atonement  effected  by  His  sufferings — Texts  considered 
which  seem  to  favor  the  opinion  that  Christ's  sufferings  termi- 
nated in  this  world — The  Scriptural  meaning  of  eating  the  flesh 
of  Christ  and  drinking  His  blood 162 


CHAPTER  XXIir. 

The  doctrine  of  "Substitution"  defended — Christ  a  consenting 
party  in  the  work  of  redemption — God  the  Father  not  vindictive 
in  offering  up  His  Son — Love  and  mercy  actuated  the  Son  in 
offering  Himself  up — Love  and  mercy  alone  must  be  ascribed 
as  the  cause  which  moved  the  Father  to  permit  the  Son  to  be 
sacrificed — "  Substitution  "  cannot  be  denied  on  the  ground  that 
the  substitute  has  not  suffered  all  the  consequences  entailed 
through  the  offender's  disobedience — Adam  and  Christ  the  rep- 
resentatives of  human  nature — The  disobedience  of  Adam  and 
the  obedience  of  Christ  contrasted — The  question  as  to  the 
length  of  time  Christ  suffered — The  reasons  generally  given 
why  Christ  descended  into  Hades  considered — The  absurdity 
and  futility  of  transubstantiation 169 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Nonconformists*  view  with  respect  to  the  locality  of  the  soul 
prior  to  the  general  judgment  considered — If  their  opinion  be 
correct,  the  judgment-day  shown  to  be  a  solemn  mockery — 
The  devils  not  yet  finally  judged — Numerous  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture brought  to  bear  on  the  subject — The  five  opinions  as  to  the 
locality  and  condition  of  the  soul  between  death  and  the  gen- 
eral judgment  summed  up — Conclusion 181 


xiv  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

PAOB 

The  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  with  respect  to  the  locality 
and  condition  of  the  soul  between  death  and  the  general  judg- 
ment— Literal  meaning  of  the  words  "Sheol,"  "Hades/*  and 
"Hell" — The  uniform  signification  of  these  words  in  the  He- 
brew and  Greek  Scriptures — The  inconsistency  of  the  translators 
of  our  Authorized  Version  in  using  for  "Sheol"  and  "Hales  " 
expressions  totally  different  in  meaning — The  error  accounted 
for — A  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  as  well  as  Latin  essen- 
tial to  a  right  understanding  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures — The 
words  in  the  Greek  Testament  for  "  Hades,"  "  Grave,"  and 
"  Hell,"  explained — A  list  of  the  leading  names  by  which  Hades 
is  designated  throughout  the  Bible  —  Isaiah  xxxviii.  17  ex- 
plained         190 


CHAPTER  XXVL 

The  part  of  the  universe  in  which  Hades  is  situated — God*s  word 
alone  decisive  on  the  subject — Human  objections  in  such  mat- 
ters of  no  weight — God's  ways  not  man's  ways — Bishop  Pear- 
son's opinion  of  "Sheol"  and  "Hades"  considered — "Sheol" 
and  "Hades"  never  used  in  the  Bible  for  the  grave  or  re- 
ceptacle of  the  human  body — Hades  always  represented  in 
Scripture  as  being  underneath  the  earth— Why  those  who  go 
to  Hades  are  said  to  descend — Genesis  xxxvii.  33,  35,  fully  ex- 
plained— Explanation  of  Genesis  xv.  15 — The  distinction  be- 
tween death,  going  to  Hades,  and  burial  clearly  pointed  out 
and  proved  by  texts  of  Scripture — Exposition  of  Numbers  xvi. 
33 — Examination  of  Philippians  ii.  10 199 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  number  of  compartments  into  which  Hades  is  divided — Laza- 
rus in  the  upper  and  Dives  in  the  lower  Hades — The  national 
belief  of  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  our  Lord's  first  advent — The 
Jewish  creed  in  reference  to  Hades  confirmed  by  the  Saviour — 
The  respective  conditions  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  both  in 
this  world  and  the  next — No  passing  from  the  lower  to  the 
upper  Hades — The  nature  of  Abraham's  answer — Lower  Hades 
proved  to  be  a  place  of  punishment  by  numerous  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture— Explanation  of  Psalm  vi.  5  —  The  difference  between 
Hades  and  Gehenna — Hades,  or  the  Intermediate  State,  not 
the  abode  of  that  complete  happiness  and  misery  that  will  be 
realized  after  the  general  judgment — This  doctrine  proved  by 
texts  of  Scripture 204 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

PAGE 

The  first  and  second  death — The  first  and  second  resurrection — The 
Millennium — Christ  will  not  reign  personally  during  the  millen- 
nium— The  departed  spirits  communicate  with  one  another — 
The  duty  to  be  performed  by  the  angels  on  the  day  of  judg- 
ment— There  will  be  degrees  of  exaltation  and  degradation  in 
the  next  world — The  wicked  dead  conscious  of  what  has  trans- 
pired, but  not  conscious  of  what  is  transpiring  in  this  world — 
The  righteous  dead  are  conscious  of  those  facts  only  which 
God  vouchsafes  to  communicate 212 


INTRODUOTIOK. 


It  may,  perhaps,  be  expected  that  I  should  assign  some 
reasons  for  giving  to  the  world  the  following  Treatise 
on  the  Doctrine  of  Hades,  or  the  Intermediate  State  of 
Souls  between  Death  and  the  final  Day  of  Retribution, 
when  all  men  shall  render  an  account  of  their  conduct  to 
the  Supreme  Judge. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  in- 
form the  reader  that  I  was  induced  to  write  upon  the 
subject  in  question,  partly  in  deference  to  the  request  of 
numerous  friends  who  had  heard  a  course  of  my  Sermons 
on  the  Doctrine  of  Hades,  and  to  whom  the  theme  was 
quite  new;  and  partly  because  I  felt  convinced  by  the 
prevailing  ignorance  of  people  generally,  that  it  had  been 
much  neglected,  and  that  even  the  great  body  of  Chris- 
tians, who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  doctrines  of  our 
Holy  Religion  in  other  respects,  cannot  be  said  to  possess 
all  the  information  they  ought  on  this  particular  branch ; 
but  what  determined  me  more  than  any  other  considera- 
tion was  a  consciousness  of  the  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject itself,  and  the  desirability  of  making  others  acquainted 
with  the  same ;  for  there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that,  un- 
less we  have  a  correct  knowledge  of  this  theological 
point,  it  is  simply  impossible  for  us  to  penetrate  into  the 
depth  of  Scripture,  and  to  discover  the  beauty  and  har- 
mony that  everywhere  pervade  the  word  of  the  Living 
God.  On  the  contrary,  many  important  passages  will 
remain  unintelligible  and  enigmatical  ;  and  when  we 
make  inquiries  as  to  their  import,  we  may  expect  the 
answer  which  we  have  so  often  received,  namely,  That 
.2  (17) 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

there  are  many  things  in  the  Bible  not  to  be  understood ; 
that  we  must  exercise  our  faith,  and  all  the  apparent 
difficulties  and  perplexities  will  be  explained  in  the  next 
world.  Who  is  not  familiar  with  language  of  this  descrip- 
tion ?  To  speak  of  Christ  as  the  Substitute  for  man  is 
perfectly  true ;  but  to  make  that  substitution  consist,  sim- 
ply and  absolutely,  in  His  death  upon  Calvary,  because 
He  said,  ^'  It  in  finished,''''  must  ever  indicate  a  most  im- 
perfect and  superficial  acquaintance  with  the  deeper 
meanings  of  the  Bible;  nor  can  the  doctrine  of  ''Substi- 
tution," in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word,  be  made  to 
harmonize  with  such  views.  A  few  moments^  reflection 
ought  to  convince  those  who  thus  regard  and  represent 
the  great  work  of  the  Atonement,  that  they  are  building 
their  house  upon  a  sandy  foundation  which  is  utterly  in- 
defensible, deceiving  themselves  and  others,  and  practi- 
cally contradicting  the  express  testimony  of  the  Almighty 
Himself. 

So  little,  indeed,  was  actually  known  in  that  part  of  the 
United  Kingdom  in  which  it  pleased  Providence  to  place 
me  respecting  this  great  doctrine,  that  on  my  preaching 
a  sermon  relative  thereto,  in  a  somewhat  prominent 
church,  considerable  excitement  was,  in  consequence, 
caused,  and  much  discussion  and  controversy  ensued. 
Some  of  the  members  of  the  congregation,  in  whose 
presence  the  discourse  was  delivered,  showed  manifesta- 
tions of  bewilderment,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  say 
they  considered  such  doctrines  repugnant  to  the  word  of 
God.  Let  it  be  further  noted  that  this  sermon,  of  which 
I  am  now  speaking,  was  addressed  to  members  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  and  if  we  find  among  that  large, 
respectable,  and  influential  body  of  Christians  such  an 
entire  absence  of  all  knowledge  of  the  Scriptural  doctrine 
of  Hades,  what  amount  of  information  can  possibly  be 
expected  from  many  of  the  other  religious  denominations 
who  do  not,  I  think,  profess,  as  a  body,  to  believe  in  the 
detention  of  departed  spirits  within  the  confines  of  any 
region,  distinct  and  separate  from  Heaven  or  Hell,^ during 
the  interval  elapsing  between  the  time  of  death  and  the 
day  of  Judgment  ?     A  few  days  after  the  delivery  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

sermon,  I  was  waited  upon  by  a  member  of  the  congre- 
gation, and,  during  our  conversation,  he  very  politely  in- 
formed me  that  he  did  not  agree  with  me  on  the  su{)ject 
of  the  *'  Intermediate  State  -/^  and  the  reason  assigned 
was  to  this  effect — that  he  had  been  for  a  long  time  a 
regular  member  of  that  church,  and  yet  had  never  so 
much  as  heard  the  doctrine  hinted  at  by  any  of  my  pre- 
decessors, some  of  whom  were  men  of  considerable 
ability  that  had  succeeded  in  gaining  more  than  a  local 
reputation.  I  expressed  to  him  my  surprise  that  a  gen- 
tleman so  intelligent  as  he  should  have  any  great  objec- 
tions to  make  against  one  of  the  doctrines  of  that  Church 
of  which  he  was  professedly  a  devoted  member.  I  also 
took  the  liberty  of  apprising  my  friend  that  he  would  be 
placing  me  under  great  obligations  to  him,  by  pointing 
out  to  me  any  passage  or  passages  in  God's  holy  word 
whence  it  could  be  inferred,  directly  or  indirectly,  that 
the  soul  of  man,  on  its  departure  from  the  body,  goes 
immediately  into  Heaven  or  Hell,  properly  so  cqlled.  I 
further  stated  that,  if  he  could  discover  even  a  single 
text  which  appeared  decisive  on  the  point,  I  would  at 
once  candidly  admit  that  there  was  no  foundation  for  the 
doctrine  enunciated  by  me  on  the  previous  Sunday,  and 
that  the  Established  Church,  of  which  he  and  I  were 
members,  must,  so  far  as  Hades  was  concerned,  be  con- 
sidered to  be  in  error.  In  order  that  he  should  have 
every  facility  and  means  for  establishing  the  views  which 
he  previously  held,  I  intimated  to  him  my  willingness  to 
wait  patiently  and  allow  him  any  length  of  time  he  might 
require  to  search  the  oracles  of  God  in  order  to  strengthen 
his  position.  He  took  advantage  of  this  offer,  and  said  a 
month  would  give  him  sufficient  time  to  settle  the  point 
between  us.  Accordingly,  he  returned  at  the  expiration 
of  the  appointed  time,  and  informed  me  that  he  could 
mention  one  text  of  Scripture  which  would,  in  his  judg- 
ment, be  sufficiently  decisive  to  establish  the  truth  of  that 
which  he  had  been  taught,  and  which  he  believed.  The 
text  to  which  he  referred  was  duly  explained  to  him, 
upon  which  he  admitted  that  he  had  failed  to  make  out 
his  own  case,  and  that  the  doctrine  of  the  ''  Intermediate 


20  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

State"  could  not  be  satisfactorily  refuted  on  the  authority 
of  Scripture,  and  of  course  it  would  be  impossible  to 
confute  it  upon  any  other  authority.  Those  passages 
which  appear  to  militate  against  the  doctrine  under  con- 
sideration, and  one  of  which  was  mentioned  by  this  gen- 
tleman, will  be  fully  discussed  and  explained  when  I 
come  to  answer  the  objections  usually  alleged  against 
Hades,  or  the  locality  in  which  disembodied  spirits  dwell 
until  the  morning  of  the  general  resurrection.  The  text 
of  Scripture  supposed  to  be  sufficiently  strong  and  deci- 
sive against  Hades  occurs  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  (v.  8). 

I  am  not  exaggerating  when  I  say  that  numbers  of 
professing  Christians  have  not  hesitated  to  assert  that 
they  never  heard  of  such  a  doctrine  as  that  of  the  ''  In- 
termediate State,"  or  anything  approaching  to  it,  until  it 
was  brought  before  their  notice  by  myself;  nor  can  it 
with  truth  be  denied  that  many  of  the  ministers  of  differ- 
ent denominations  of  religion  have  persistently  refrained 
from  handling  this  doctrine ;  but  upon  what  grounds  they 
have  chosen  to  maintain  such  profound  silence  I  cannot 
understand,  and  it  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  institute  any 
special  inquiry. 

I  may  here  inform  the  reader  that  in  1859,  and  again 
in  1863,  I  preached  a  course  of  Sermons  on  the  ''  Doc- 
trine of  Hades,"  and  in  1864  I  published  a  pamphlet  on 
the  subject,  entitled  '*Six  Discourses  on  the  Intermediate 
State ;"  a  portion  of  which  will  be  found  embodied  in  the 
present  work.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  some 
divines  have  labored  under  an  impression  that  the  sub- 
ject was  too  philosophical  and  abstruse  to  be  brought  be- 
fore a  mixed  congregation,  and  therefore  have  thought  it 
prudent  to  abandon  it  altogether.  Others  may  have  been 
deterred  from  bringing  the  matter  prominently  forward 
lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  they  sanctioned  and 
taught  the  doctrine  of  purgatory.  Many,  I  doubt  not, 
have  been  silent  from  a  conviction  that  it  was  unde- 
sirable to  agitate  or  disturb  the  minds  of  their  hearers 
with  a  doctrine  the  knowledge  of  which  appeared  to  them 
by  no  means  necessary  to  salvation.     Truth  and  candor, 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

however,  compel  me  to  say,  from  my  own  personal 
knowledge,  that  there  are  not  wanting  those  who  assert 
that  nothing  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  respecting  the 
subject  of  Hades  or  the  condition  of  the  soul  between 
death  and  the  general  Judgment. 

These  assertions  have  been  made  even  by  ministers  of 
the  Gospel ;  and  if  they  treat  the  ''  Doctrine  of  Hades" 
in  such  a  manner,  we  need  scarcely  wonder  at  any  amount 
of  ignorance  we  may  meet  with  among  those  who  certainly 
ought  to  be  enlightened  on  this  part  of  Revelation.  It  is 
the  opinion  of  many  that  there  can  be  nothing  revealed 
in  the  Bible  about  the  condition  of  the  soul  between  death 
and  the  final  Judgment,  or  rather  they  deny  such  a  con- 
dition altogether,  because  they  do  not  find  the  words  In- 
termediate State  expressly  mentioned  in  the  word  of 
God.  This  sort  of  reasoning  appears  about  as  weak  and 
puerile  as  it  would  be  to  say  that  the  "  Lord's  Supper" 
should  be  withheld  from  women  because  we  are  not  ex- 
pressly told  in  the  living  oracles  of  God  that  they  ever 
received  that  Sacrament.  If  we  are  not  to  compare 
scripture  with  scripture,  and  deduce  such  truths  as  are 
undeniable  by  inference,  we  must  at  once  give  up  infant 
baptism  in  our  Church,  for  I  do  not  recollect  ever  having 
read  in  the  Bible  that  an  infant  was  baptized.  For  the 
same  reason  we  might  deny  the  existence  of  three  Persons 
in  the  Godhead,  because  the  word  Trinity  is  nowhere 
found  in  the  book  of  revelation.  It  is  perfectly  true 
that  we  do  not  find  in  Scripture  the  words  "  Interme- 
diate State,"  nevertheless  it  is  equally  true  that  the  doc- 
trine itself  is  clearly  taught  therein,  and  to  omit  its  in- 
vestigation is  obviously  to  neglect  our  duty.  Again,  I 
may  be  permitted  to  caution  my  readers  against  imagin- 
ing that  an  inquiry  into  the  intermediate  condition  of  the 
soul  is  a  subject  of  speculation,  and  therefore,  under  such 
circumstances,  the  wiser  plan  would  be  to  leave  the  mat- 
ter alone  altogether.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
many  will  declare  it  to  be  a  matter  of  pure  speculation, 
and  unprofitable,  if  not  presumptuous,  for  any  man  to 
undertake  an  exposition  of  that  which  has  not  been  clearly 
revealed  in  Scripture.     Yes,  they  will  naturally  go  much 


22  I^TR  OD  UCTION. 

further  than  this,  and  assure  us  that,  having  carefully 
read  the  Bible,  and  having  at  the  same  time  studied  the 
opinions  of  the  most  eminent  men  on  all  the  leading 
theological  points,  they  have  the  best  of  grounds  for  be- 
lieving that  Scripture  really  and  truly  teaches  no  such 
doctrine  ;  for  had  it  so  done,  they  must  of  necessity  have 
become  acquainted  with  it. 

Those  who  argue  in  such  a  manner  set  a  limit  to  knowl- 
edge, and  measure  other  men's  abilities  by  their  own  stand- 
ard, which  is  both  improper  and  un-Scriptural.  For  are  we 
not  told  in  the  plainest  language,  even  in  the  Bible  itself, 
that  among  men  there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  and  that  it 
is  the  same  Spirit  that  gives  to  every  individual  to  profit 
withal  ?  After  knowing  this,  shall  I  presume  to  say  that 
certain  parts  of  the  Bible  are  inexplicable,  merely  because 
I  do  not  understand  them  ?  If  it  be  true  that  men  have 
different  intellectual  endowments,  can  we  not  justly  infer 
that  what  may  be  a  most  perplexing  difficulty  to  one  man 
might  be  an  easy  and  simple  thing  to  another  ? 

Every  day's  experience  bears  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  what  is  here  stated ;  and  in  corroboration  of  these  re- 
marks it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  fact,  that  every  individual 
is  capable  of  excelling,  and  therefore  distinguishing  him- 
self, in  some  one  thing,  if  not  in  more  than  one  thing. 
Yes,  I  do  not  recollect  having  met  with  a  youth  who  did 
not  in  a  short  time  manifest  some  prominent  development 
which  indicated  his  character.  And  what  is  this  but  the 
distinguishing  feature  in  his  nature,  and  the  germ  from 
which  good  or  bad  results  may  in  a  great  measure  be  ap- 
prehended ?  We  should  also  not  lose  sight  of  this  impor- 
tant fact — that  whatever  we  find  revealed  in  tKe  word 
of  God,  that  revelation  was  made  by  the  Almighty  to  the 
end  that  we  should  examine  it  and  obtain  from  it  as  much 
information  as  possible.  And  if  we  fail  to  do  so,  or  are 
careless  and  neglectful  about  it,  what  is  the  use  of  such 
spiritual  knowledge  from  heaven  ? 

If  we  had  nothing  to  do  with  that  state  which  lies  be- 
tween death  and  the  resurrection,  and  if  it  in  no  way 
concerned  us,  the  reader  may  depend  that  I  should  not 
have  wasted  either  his  time  or  my  own  in  discussing  any- 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

thing  so  unprofitable.  Since,  however,  we  are  certain 
one  day  to  enter  this  invisible  region  of  the  dead,  and 
probably  remain  there  for  centuries  prior  to  the  morning 
of  the  resurrection,  it  appears  to  me  both  desirable  and 
reasonable  that  we  should  strive  to  know  something 
about  this  future  condition  of  our  spiritual  existence,  and 
more  particularly  so  as  we  have  it  revealed  in  the  Divine 
Records. 

Let  me  also  impress  upon  the  minds  of  my  readers 
that,  in  giving  this  book  to  the  world,  there  is  no  desire 
on  my  part  to  provoke  controversy  or  to  arouse  any  bitter 
feelings  in  the  minds  of  those  who  may  view  the  subject 
of  Hades  differently  from  what  I  do.  I  make  no  preten- 
sions to  infallibility.  My  sole  aim  throughout  the  book 
has  been  to  arrive,  if  possible,  at  the  truth  ;  and,  if  I 
have  failed  in  the  attainment  of  that  object,  I  shall  at  least 
have  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  it  will  not  have  been 
the  result  of  intention.  Should  the  language  used  in 
some  parts  of  the  work  be  thought  too  strong  or  dogmati- 
cal, I  can  assure  the  reader  that  I  have  no  wish  to  arro- 
gate to  myself  any  superiority,  or  even  to  make  any  at- 
tempt at  dogmatizing  over  the  minds  of  others.  The 
subject  is  one  deserving  the  most  serious  consideration 
of  all  thoughtful  Christians ;  and  a  deep  conviction  of 
its  importance  may,  I  hope,  be  regarded  as  some  little 
justification  on  my  part  for  using  language  of  a  somewhat 
decisive  character. 

Having  now  explained  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
following  work  was  undertaken,  and  having  endeavored 
to  account,  in  some  measure  at  least,  for  the  subject  of  the 
**  Intermediate  State"  not  receiving  that  degree  of  atten- 
tion to  which  it  is  so  justly  and  pre-eminently  entitled,  I 
conclude  this  introductory  poftion  by  expressing  an  earn- 
est hope  and  sincere  desire  that  what  is  presented  in  the 
subsequent  pages  may  be  read  with  interest  and  profit, 
and  that  it  may  be  the  humble  means  of  inducing  many 
that  have  more  leisure  than  I  have  to  investigate  for  them- 
selves so  important  and  vital  a  doctrine  as  that  revealed 
in  Scripture  concerning  Hades. 

Walton  College,  1869. 


^  OK   TllJJ  'A 

[uuiversity: 


THE 

SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Death  the  destined  portion  of  all  men — The  time  of  its  arrival  uncertain 
— God's  prerogative — Man's  ignorance — The  Almighty's  supreme  wis- 
dom— His  universal  goodness — God's  dealings  with  Pharaoh  in  reality 
no  exception — The  innocent  not  involved  with  the  guilty — Jehovah's 
method  of  treating  the  Egyptians  characteristic  of  his  righteousness 
— Why  Moses  was  commanded  to  appoint  a  particular  time  for  the 
working  of  certain  miracles — The  investigation  of  the  intermediate 
state  a  duty  incumbent  upon  Christians  in  general  and  ministers  of 
the  gospel  in  particular — The  leading  questions  propounded  for  solu- 
tion in  the  course  of  the  work — Reasons  for  deviating  somewhat  from 
Scripture  in  dealing  with  the  subject  of  Hades. 

We  are  taught,  and  convincingly  taught,  even  every 
hour  of  our  existence,  that  death  is  the  common  and  des- 
tined portion  of  mankind,  though  we  do  not  know  under 
what  circumstances  or  when  that  solemn  period  may 
arrive  in  which  we  are  to  realize  the  painful  separation 
of  soul  and  body.  This  grave  event  has  been,  and  it 
ever  will  be,  a  secret  to  the  wisest  among  us ;  for,  not- 
withstanding all  the  important  revelations  made  by  God 
to  man  during  the  dispensations  of  His  grace,  there  ap- 
pears to  be  one  thing  which  He  never  communicates, 
and  which,  on  the  contrary,  He  claims  as  His  own  special 
prerogative.  This  special  prerogative  is  exercised  by  ' 
God  in  withholding  from  the  knowledge  of  man  the  exact 
point  of  time  at  which  the  event  shall  actually  take  place. 
We  have  it  recorded  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  (xiii.  3, 
32,  33)  that  four  of  our  Lord's  apostles,  namely,  Peter, 

(25) 


26  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

^Andrew,  John,  and  James,  went  privately  to  their  Divine 
Master  and  requested  Him  to  inform  them  when  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  to  which  event  He  had  previously 
called  their  attention,  and  the  end  of  the  world,  were 
to  be  accomplished ;  and  the  answer  elicited  from  our 
Redeemer  on  that  occasion  was  given  in  the  following 
words:  ''Of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man;  no, 
not  the  angels  which  are  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but 

'  the  Father.  Take  ye  heed,  watch  and  pray :  for  ye  know 
not  when  the  time  is."  And  on  another  occasion  we  find 
our  Lord,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (i.  T),  addressing 
His  disciples  in  these  words:  "It  is  not  for  you  to  know 
the  times  or  the  seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  put  in  His 
own  power."  From  the  two  passages  just  quoted  out  of 
the  Scriptures,  we  clearly  perceive  that  men  are  not  per- 
mitted to  be  participators  in  those  momentous  secrets 
which  belong  to  God  alone ;  and  this  great  fact,  when 
viewed  in  connection  with  man's  free-will  and  responsi- 
bility, is  certainly  a  mark  of  supreme  wisdom  and  uni- 
versal goodness.  The  account  of  God's  dealings  with 
Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians,  which  we  find  recorded  in 
the  Book  of  Exodus,  may  be  thought  to  contradict  what 

^  is  stated  above,  but  it  is  not  so  in  reality;  for,  in  telling 
•^Pharaoh  that  such  and  such  a  plague  would  be  inflicted 
at  such  a  time  unless  he  allowed  the  Israelites  to  go  out 
of  Egypt,  the  object  was  twofold,  namely,  to  deal  in  all 
fairness  with  that  haughty  monarch  of  Egypt,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  show  kindness  to  those  who  did  believe  in 
what  the  Almighty  threatened,  and  thereby  to  afford 
them  an  opportunity  of  escaping,  so  far  as  the}^  were 
concerned,  the  impending  punishment.  In  fact,  I  do  not 
think  that  any  other  mode  of  procedure  would  have  been 
practicable  without  involving  the  righteous  with  the 
wicked,  which  would  have  been  unjust.  In  Exodus  (ix. 
17,  21)  we  thus  read:  "As  yet  exaltest  thou  thysel) 
against  my  people,  that  thou  wilt  not  let  them  go  ?  Be- 
hold, to-morrow  about  this  time  I  will  cause  it  to  rain  a 
very  grievous  hail,  such  as  hath  not  been  in  Egypt  since 
the  foundation  thereof,  even  until  now.  Send  therefore 
now,  and  gather  thy  cattle,  and  all  that  thou  hast  in'the  . 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  2T 

field  ;  for  upon  every  man  and  beast  which  shall  be  found 
in  the  field,  and  shall  not  be  brought  home,  the  hail  shall 
come  down  upon  them,  and  they  shall  die.  He  that 
feared  the  w^ord  of  the  Lord  among  the  servants  of  Pha- 
raoh made  his  servants  and  his  cattle  flee  into  the  houses; 
and  he  that  regarded  not  the  word  of  the  Lord  left  his 
servants  and  his  cattle  in  the  field."  This  passage  from 
the  word  of  God  at  once  shows  the  reason  for  fixing  the 
time  when  the  specified  punishment  was  to  be  inflicted ; 
and  therefore  does  not  militate  against  the  views  pre- 
viously expressed. 

So  powerful  and  irresistible  is  that  monster  Death,  and 
so  impartial  in  his  operations  and  overwhelming  in  his 
influence,  that  be  is  justly  called  the  king  of  terrors.  It 
is  through  the  universal  dominion  and  all-controlling 
sway  of  this  humiliating  foe,  that  men  of  every  rank  and 
condition  in  this  life  are  brought  to  a  level.  Though  he 
be  the  rich  man  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  faring 
sumptuously  day  by  day;  though  he  be  the  tyrannical 
autocrat  arrayed  in  his  scarlet  vesture  and  crowned  with 
the  royal  diadem,  or  the  wretched  creature  whose  pov- 
erty compels  him  to  gather  his  scanty  pittance  from  door 
to  door;  yet  all  must,  without  exception,  be  reduced  to 
their  primitive  clod.  Every  time  we  hear  the  solemn 
toll  of  the  village  church-bell,  or  listen  with  breathless 
silence  to  the  minister's  voice  sounding  over  the  regions 
of  the  dead,  we  are  reminded  that  another  soul  has  left 
its  earthly  tabernacle,  has  bidden  adieu  to  this  world  with 
all  its  changing  scenes,  has  winged  its  flight  to  that  in- 
visible world  whence  it  will  never,  never  return. 

Now,  since  all  men  are  by  nature  subject  to  death,  and 
since  it  is  appointed  by  the  behests  of  Heaven  that  all 
men,  whether  good  or  bad,  shall  rise  from  the  dead  in 
order  to  render  an  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body, 
and  to  receive  a  just  recompense  of  reward,  it  is  at  once 
the  duty  and  interest  of  all,  especially  of  Christians  and 
ministers  of  Christ,  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  what  is  to 
become  of  us  during  that  long  interval  of  time  elapsing 
between  the  dissolution  of  our  mortal  bodies  and  immor- 
tal souls,  and  the  reunion  of  the  same  bodies  and  souls; 


28  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

or,  in  other  words,  to  determine  what  is  the  condition  of 
man  between  death  and  the  general  judgment.  To  make 
this  very  important  subject  easily  understood,  and  as 
readily  comprehended,  I  shall  propose  for  consideration 
the  following  questions,  and  endeavor  to  give  to  each  a 
full  and  satisfactory  answer : 

1.  What  is  the  real  composition  of  man? 

2.  Does  his  nature  comprise  a  body,  a  soul,  and  a 
spirit?  and  if  so,  what  shall  we  regard  as  the  philo- 
sophical distinction  existing  in  the  three  respectively  ? 

3.  If  it  can  be  clearly  shown  that  man  is  a  compound 
being,  and  that  the  destruction  of  one  element  is  not  the 
death  of  the  other,  where  is  the  soul  or  the  spiritual  per- 
sonality while  the  body  decomposes  and  putrefies  in  the 
grave ? 

4.  Is  the  soul  or  the  spiritual  personality,  during  its 
separation  from  the  body  and  reunion  with  the  same 
body,  active  or  passive  ? — that  is,  does  the  soul  exercise 
its  faculties  when  absent  from  the  body,  as  it  did  while 
in  the  body,  or  are  those  faculties  partially  or  completely 
suspended  ? 

5.  What  is  the  actual  condition  of  the  soul  in  its  sepa- 
rate state  of  existence  ?  Ay^e  these  immortal  natures  clas- 
sified, and  can  they  hold  communion  with  each  other  ? 

6.  What  is  the  nature  of  that  happiness  and  misery 
which  the  separate  souls  enjoy  or  suffer  during  the  inter- 
val between  death  and  the  general  judgment  ? 

7.  In  what  part  of  the  universe  are  the  souls  of  the 
righteous  and  wicked  dead  detained,  prior  to  their  resur- 
rection at  the  last  day  ? 

I  believe  it  will  be  found  that  the  foregoing  questions 
embrace  every  feature  of  importance  respecting  death  and 
its  consequences ;  and  therefore  my  undertaking  will  be 
sufficiently  discharged  by  furnishing  such  clear  and  defi- 
nite answers  as  will  tend,  if  possible,  to  leave  no  doubts 
on  the  mind  of  the  reader  as  to  the  correctness  of  our 
views  in  reference  to  the  ''  Doctrine  of  Hades." 

The  evidence  which  I  shall  produce  from  the  Bible 
will,  doubtless,  be  sufficient  for  the  minds  of  most  Chris- 
tians ;  and  if  I  had  to  deal  with  them  alone  there  would 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 


29 


be  no  need  for  my  going  beyond  the  sacred  oracles  of 
God ;  but  since  my  book  may  possibly  fall  into  the  hands 
of  those  who  ignore,  or  profess  to  ignore,  the  Scriptures, 
I  may  be  pardoned  for  branching  out  a  little  in  another 
direction,  to  meet  the  demands  of  such  readers.  It  would 
be  absurd  in  the  extreme  to  argue  with  people  from  the 
contents  of  a  book  in  which  they  do  not  believe.  It  is 
better  to  meet  them  upon  their  own  grounds. 


CHAPTER  11. 

Mode  of  conducting  the  inquiry  into  Hades — Six  different  opinions  re- 
specting death  and  its  consequences — Death  not  the  extinction  of  man 
— Human  beings  not  descended  from  apes,  monkeys,  or  gorillas — A 
line  of  noble  ancestry  highly  esteemed  by  most  men — Such  discussions 
futile — God  not  exalted  by  them — Every  nature  in  the  universe  under 
law — Transformation  of  a  gorilla  into  a  man  an  impossibility — No 
radical  change  in  the  nature  of  an  animal — Various  senses  of  the  word 
soul  in  the  Bible. 

Now,  in  order  that  the  reader  may  thoroughly  under- 
stand the  subject  under  consideration,  and  that  justice 
may  be  done  to  all  parties  concerned,  I  deem  it  necessary 
to  investigate  the  opinions  held  by  the  religious  world 
touching  death,  and  the  consequences  thence  arising  to 
us  all.  My  proceeding  will  be  conducted  after  this  man- 
ner, because  I  am  most  anxious  to  act  candidly  and  honor- 
ably toward  those  who  have  their  own  opinions,  and 
who  differ  from  the  doctrine  taught  by  our  Church.  Since 
there  are  no  fewer  than  six  different  opinions  respecting 
the  state  of  man  after  death,  and  since  all  possess  dis- 
tinctive characteristics,  I  shall  examine  each  view  in  its 
proper  order,  taking  every  precaution  to  state  it  fairly ; 
and  if  I  find  in  Scripture  any  text  or  texts  which  seem, 
even  in  the  slightest  degree,  to  countenance  the  opinion 
under  investigation,  I  shall  not  fail  to  bring  it  forward 
for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  giving  to  it  full  weight 

^  in  the  course  of  the  argument.  I  now  invite  the  careful 
attention  of  the  reader  to  the  first  of  the  six  prevailing 
opinions,  by  which  it  is  believed  that  death  is  the  extinc- 

^  tion  of  body  and  soul. 

I  need  scarcely  apprise  those  who  peruse  these  pages 
how  much  the  minds  of  many  people  have  been  distressed 
and  struck  with  the  greatest  apprehension,  lest  argument- 
(30) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  31 

ative  evidence  should  be  advanced  to  show  that  man  de- 
scended from  some  inferior  kind  of  animals,  the  names  of 
which,  except  one  or  two,  there  can  scarcely  be  any 
necessity  for  my  ipentioning  in  this  place.  It  is  curious 
and  important  to  notice  the  amazing  length  of  time  re- 
quired by  these  learned  professors  for  this  wonderful 
transformation, — a  transformation,  indeed,  which,  viewed! 
from  any  point  we  please,  is  a  stupendous  miracle.  To  ' 
my  mind  the  best  way  of  dealing  with  a  subject  of  this 
character  is,  to  ascertain  from  the  supporters  of  such  a 
doctrine  what  they  really  mean  by  the  word  transforma- 
tion. And,  secondly,  what  length  of  time  they  consider 
requisite  for  this  mighty  achievement.  After  this  has\ 
been  fully  ascertained,  it  would  not  be  out  of  place  to 
inquire  whetiier  they  could  furnish  a  solitary  instance  of 
one  animal  having  been  changed  into  another  of  a  differ-  ( 
ent  nature.  The  previous  questions  are  almost  certain 
to  receive  either  no  reply,  or  rf  they  do  elicit  a  reply, 
it  will  be  one  of  an  unsatisfactory  character.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  most  extraordinary  events  recorded 
in  the  history  of  man,  that  there  should  be  found,  es- 
pecially in  the  nineteenth  century,  a  human  being  whose 
philosophical  researches  could  possibly  lead  him  to  be- 
lieve that  he  descended  either  from  an  ape  or  a  gorilla. 
Most,  if  not  all  people,  are  proud  to  acknowledge  a  line 
of  noble  ancestry ;  but  in  this  case  we  find  the  very  re- 
verse to  be  the  truth.  Is  this  a  mental  delusion,  or  does 
it  arise  from  a  wish  to  ignore  the  word  of  God  ?  No  ^ 
doubt,  some  will  say  that  the  desire  of  those  who  hold 
such  views  is  to  arrive  at  the  truth ;  to  which  we  cannot 
but  reply  that  the  method  adopted  for  gaining  this  point 
is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  most  unaccountable,  and  may 
well  excite  the  wonder  of  any  one  possessing  an  ordinary 
share  of  common  sense.  Did  I  for  one  moment  imagine 
that  my  ancestors,  how  remote-  soever,  had  been  con- 
nected either  with  the  ape  or  gorilla  tribe,  I  most  as- 
suredly would  keep  the  matter  a  profound  secret;  it  should 
never  escape  from  my  lips.  Supposing,  however,  that  it 
could  be  shown  with  some  appearance  of  probability  that 
mankind  have  sprung  from  such  a  low  origin  as  that  of 


32  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

monkeys,  what  advantage  would  arise  from  a  knowledge 
^  of  the  fact  ?  In  what  respect  could  the  supposed  truth 
benefit  us  ?  Would  the  Creator  be  exalted  in  our  estima- 
tion ?  Should  we  be  induced  to  think  more  highly  of  the 
Bible  ?  Is  not  information  of  this  description  calculated 
to  make  skeptics,  and  infidels,  and  even  atheists  ?  In  my 
judgment,  such  uncertain  and  unprofitable  studies  proceed 
upon  a  disbelief  in  the  Bible,  or  from  a  wish  to  be  thought 
wise  above  what  is  written  ;  and  they  only  leave  those 
who  pursue  them  in  a  world  of  labyrinths  and  perpetual 
doubt.  The  best  way,  however,  to  deal  with  the  subject 
is  to  put  it  upon  its  own  basis,  and  to  discuss  it  with  every 
care  and  attention.  By  these  means  we  shall  have  an  op- 
portunity of  ascertaining  the  merits  and  demerits  of  this 
singular  theory.  Let  us  proceed,  then,  in  the  following 
manner,  to  investigate  the  subject  philosophically,  and 
then  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  we  shall  be  able  to  draw  cor- 
V^rect  conclusions. 

Every  nature  in  the  universe  has  in  its  very  essence  a 
special  law  operating  upon  it  and  in  it  every  moment  of 
its  existence,  and  this  special  law  continues  its  operation 
in  the  same  manner  at  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the 
end  of  that  nature's  existence.  We  admit  that  there  may 
be  a  possibility  of  frustrating  this  law  to  some  small  ex- 
tent ;  but  then  the  result  will  always  be  a  change  for  the 
worse,  and  consequently  the  effect  will  be  manifest  by  the 
degeneration  of  the  animal  which  may  happen  to  be  the 
/  subject  of  experiment.  So  long  as  this  natural  law  is  not 
frustrated  by  experiments  or  otherwise,  the  nature  will 
advance  in  regular  and  proper  order  till  it  arrive  at  that 
particular  point  or  limit  which  is  the  boundary  allotted 
to  it  by  the  Creator  Himself.  Had  this  nature  inherent 
power  to  convert  itself  into  anything  it  pleased,  we  might 
in  all  truth  say  that  it  would  be  under  no  law  except  such 
as  its  own  whimsical  and  capricious  fancy  thought  proper 
to  invent  and  then  establish.  And,  indeed,  supposing  one 
of  the  inferior  animals  should  entertain  a  notion — and  it 
must  be  admitted  that  such  a  notion  would  be  ambitious 
— of  becoming  a  man,  the  question  is,  could  such  an  idea 
be  realized  in  his  lifetime,  or  must  some  generations  pass 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES,  33 

away  before  his  original  intention  of  improving  his  species 
could  be  accomplished  ?  If,  for  instance,  a  gorilla  were 
on  some  sudden  occasion  struck  with  an  idea  that  he 
would  like  to  be  a  man,  or,  in  more  simple  words,  should 
feel  a  strong  desire  to  change  his  nature  into  human 
nature,  how  must  he  proceed  to  obtain  his  object  ?  He 
must  either  possess  the  inherent  power  to  effect  what  he 
wished,  or  else  he  will  be  necessitated  to  remain  as  he  is, 
with  the  wish  unaccomplished.  Perhaps  it  may  said  the 
change  would  be  slow,  and  in  that  case  efifecteaM)y  de- 
grees. We  would  then  ask,  How  many  generations  are  re- 
quired for  the  gradual  change  to  reach  perfection,  that  is, 
for  the  gorilla  to  be  transformed  into  the  man  ?  As  we  are 
aware  that  a  very  long  time  is  necessary,  we  have  no  ob- 
jection to  allow  a  million  years,  and  in  all  conscience  this 
ought  to  be  considered  time  enough.  What  then  is  want- 
ing for  the  effecting  of  this  natural  miracle  ?  If  a  million 
years  are  requisite  for  the  gorilla  to  become  a  man,  and  that 
so  great  a  change  cannot  be  brought  about  in  less  time, 
we  reasonably  conclude  that  there  cannot  be  the  proper 
amount  of  power  in  the  original  himself  for  his  transfor- 
mation into  one  of  the  human  species.  Seeing,  then,  that 
this  animal  has  not  the  requisite  force  to  transform  his 
own  nature  into  that  of  another  character,  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  object,  or  the  carrying  out  of  the  orig- 
inal gorilla^s  design,  must  depend  upon  the  inclination  of 
his  posterity,  some  of  which  would  be  certain  to  differ 
from  their  great  ancestor  ;  or  we  should  have  in  this  par- 
ticular instance  such  a  specimen  of  unity  and  concord  as 
must  forever  remain  without  a  parallel  in  the  existence  of 
man.  Further,  whence  did  the  gorilla  derive  his  first  <s^ 
ambitious  notion  ?  Did  he  derive  it  from  another  animal  ? 
and,  if  so,  from  what  kind  ?  Or  shall  we  say  that  the  idea 
first  sprang  up  in  his  own  mind  ?  The  notion  must  be 
original,  and  in  such  a  case  it  would  be  the  result  of  de- 
liberate choice,  which  implies  the  discursive  faculty,  or 
the  power  of  reasoning,  and  in  that  case  he  would  be 
human  ;  so  that,  while  he  was  actually  a  gorilla,  and 
ambitious  to  be  a  man,  he  would  in  reality  be  a  man,  and 
still  unconscious  of  it,  or,  in  other  words,  he  would  t)e  a 

3 


34  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 

gorilla  and  not  a  gorilla  at  the  same  moment  of  time, 
which  is  an  absurdity  of  the  first  character. 
^  We  hesitate  not  to  strike  at  the  very  root  of  this  matter 
by  asserting  that  no  animal  can  ever  change  its  essential 
nature.  That  nature  with  which  any  animal  is  endowed, 
and  which  makes  it  that  specific  animal,  can  never  be 
transformed  into  another  nature.  Can  we  believe  it 
either  probable  or  possible  for  a  bird  to  be  changed  into 
a  fish,  or  a  fish  into  a  quadruped  ?  This  mighty  transfor- 
mation, indeed,  cannot  be  effected  even  in  eternity  itself. 
And,  moreover,  if  time  could  work  so  great  a  wonder, 
there  is  every  probability  to  believe  that  the  works  ot 
the  Creator  would  be  involved  in  the  utmost  confusion. 
Yes,  if  it  were  possible  for  one  animal  in  time  to  be  trans- 
formed into  another  animal  of  a  totally  different  character 
or  nature,  in  that  case  we  should  have  no  guarantee  that 
ijve  ourselves  might  not  be  changed  into  I  know  not  what  I 

Be  it  remembered  that  there  is  a  primary,  fundamental, 
and  natural  law,  operating  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
it  impossible  for  one  animal  ever  to  be  changed  into 
another  animal,  and  we  may  justly  infer  the  strict  natural 
order  of  things  in  the  divine  law  from  this  important  fact, 
— that  we  find  statute  laws  in  the  Bible  prohibiting  the 
Israelites  from  sowing  their  fields  with  mingled  seed  ; 
neither  were  they  allowed  to  wear  a  garment  mingled  of 
linen  and  woolen.  (Lev.  xix.  19.) 

And  in  Genesis,  even  in  the  first  chapter,  we  are  ex- 
pressly informed  that  the  different  trees  yielded  fruit  ac- 
cording to  their  respective  natures,  and  that  each  had  its 
own  seed  in  itself;  all  of  which  implies  a  law  operating 
without  confusion,  and  in  order  to  prevent  confusion.  Let 
no  man  allow  himself  to  be  persuaded  that  he  is  the  off- 
spring of  anything  but  man.  Had  we  not  these  laws  per- 
vading nature,  it  would  have  been  useless  and  false  for  our 
blessed  Lord  to  assert  that  a  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit ; 
and  it  would  have  been  equally  inconsistent  for  Him  to 
ask  His  disciples  whether  it  was  usual  for  men  to  gather 
grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles.  Without  this  un- 
changeable law  of  which  I  am  speaking,  the  husbandman 
might  sovy  his  field  with  wheat  and  reap  a  crop  of  oats ; 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES  35 

oxen  might  be  transformed  into  sheep,  and   sheep  into 
oxen. 

Was  there  ever  an  instance  known  during-  the  lifetime 
of  ourselves,  our  fathers,  our  grandfathers,  or  even  in  that 
of  our  great-grandfathers,  of  an  ape  or  a  gorilla  making 
one  solitary  step  toward  changing  its  form  and  nature 
and  becoming  man  ?  Has  there  been  the  slightest  mani- 
festation toward  so  wonderful  a  mutation  within  the 
memory  of  man  ?  Surely  not ;  or  it  must  have  attracted 
the  attention  of  some  of  our  progenitors.  If  it  were  pos- 
sible for  inferior  animals  to  become  men,  why  not  pass 
on  to  something  still  more  noble  ?  Since  they  would  be 
under  no  law  except  one  of  development  and  progression, 
there  would  seem  to  be  no  assignable  reason  why  the 
transformation  should  not  go  on  eternally. 

It  may  indeed  be  said  that  all  those  who  imagine  death 
to  be  the  extinction  of  the  man  are  likely  subjects  for 
holding  this  degraded  view  of  man^s  origin. 

This  view,  then,  that  death  is  the  destruction  of  body 
and  soul,  precludes  the  idea  of  rewards  and  punishments 
in  the  world  to  come,  since  it  would  be  useless  to  prepare 
either  the  one  or  the  other,  when  there  could  be  no  man 
left  either  to  receive  the  reward  or  suffer  the  punishment. 

The  passages  adduced  from  Scripture  in  support  of  this 
view  are  the  following  : 

"  I  have  occasioned  the  death  of  every  soul  of  my 
father's  house."  (1  Sam.  xxii.  22.)  "  The  soul  that  sin- 
neth,  it  shall  die."  (Ezek.  xviii.  20.)  *' And  Samson  said. 
Let  my  soul  die  with  the  Philistines."  (Judges  xvi.  30.) 
Never  could  there  be  a  greater  mistake  than  to  suppose 
that  these  texts  inculcate  the  doctrine  that  the  soul  does 
not  survive  the  body. 

They  who  hold  the  preceding  notions  ought  to  have 
inquired,  in  the  first  place,  in  what  senses  the  sacred 
writers  often  use  the  word  soul,  and  then  have  asked 
themselves  whether  it  could  have  been  employed  in  the 
signification  which  they  give  to  it. 

We  ought  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  soul,  being  the^ 
principal  part  of  the  man,  is  generally  employed  for  the 
man  himself.    A  few  examples  will  demonstrate  the  truth  ^ 


36  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

of  our  assertion.  We  are  taught  (Gen.  ii.  7)  that  ''  God 
breathed  into  Adam's  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  he 
became  a  living  soul,"  that  is,  a  living  person,  or  living 
man.  ''All  the  souls  that  came  out  of  the  loins  of  Jacob 
were  seventy  souls,"  meaning  seventy  persons.  (Exodus 
i.  5.) 

St.  Peter  (1  Pet.  iii.  20),  speaking  of  those  who  were 
not  destroyed  in  the  deluge,  informs  us  that  eight  souls 
were  saved  by  water.  The  eight  souls  to  whom  St.  Peter 
refers  were  Noah,  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth,  and  their 
four  wives.  Hence  it  is  very  plain  and  easy  to  see  in 
what  sense  the  inspired  penmen  use  the  word  soul  in 
those  passages  to  which  allusion  has  been  made. 
f  The  Hebrews  even  apply  the  word  soul  to  a  dead  per- 
son, as  the  reader  may  learn  by  turning  to  the  sixth 
chapter  of  Numbers  and  the  sixth  verse,  where  these 
words  are  written:  ''All  the  days  that  he  separateth 
himself  unto  the  Lord  he  shall  come  at  no  dead  body." 
The  word  here  translated  body  is,  in  the  original,  is^jD, 
"  soul,"  and  the  latter  part  of  the  sentence,  if  literally 
translated,  will  be,  *'  And  he  shall  not  approach  a  dead 
,  soul,"  that  is,  a  dead  person. 

We  may  easily  perceive  from  the  few  texts  already 
quoted,  how  common  it  is  in  the  Bible  to  use  the  expres- 
sion "  soul "  for  the  person,  which  includes  both  body  and 
soul.  Had  this  been  properly  attended  to,  there  would 
have  been  no  need  of  our  referring  to  these  passages. 

And  again  in  Psalm  cxlvi.  4,  we  have  a  statement 
which  seems  rather  curious,  and  it  is  thus  written :  "  His 
breath  goeth  forth;  he  returneth  to  his  dust,  in  that  very 
day  his  thoughts  perish."  The  previously  quoted  pas- 
sages may  produce  a  strong  impression  upon  the  minds 
of  such  as  are  in  the  habit  of  reading  the  Bible  in  a 
superficial  manner,  by  which  they  attach  more  impor- 
tance to  the  expressions  than  to  the  meaning  couched 
underneath  ;  but  let  me  remind  such  readers  that  the  in- 
spired penman  from  whose  writings  this  text  has  been 
taken  is  simply  excluding  from  the  dead  those  thoughts, 
plans,  and  designs  which  assume  a  practical  character, 
and  which  admit  of  accomplishment  during  the  present 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  37 

life.  The  correctness  of  the  view  here  taken  appears 
manifest  from  the  fact  that  thoughts  unreah'zed  are 
neither  more  nor  less  than  plans  or  designs  never  re- 
duced to  practice.  In  other  words,  a  man  wishes  to  ac- 
complish certain  things  in  this  world,  but  does  not  carry 
out  his  intentions  because  he  is  prevented  by  the  cold 
hand  of  death ;  and  when  such  a  stern  reality  overtakes 
him,  it  may  in  all  truth  be  affirmed  that  in  the  day  of 
his  death  *'all  his  thoughts  perish.'^  A  man's  notions 
can  perish,  but  not  the  man  himself.  (See  Eccles.  xii.  t.) 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  text  supposed  by  some  to  teach  that  death  is  the  extinction  of  man 
— A  bad  explanation  worse  than  no  explanation — The  diligent  in- 
quirer after  truth  often  disappointed  when  consulting  the  Scriptural 
expositors — Bishop  Patrick's  Commentary  on  Psalm  vi.  5 — Further 
consideration  of  the  first  opinion  concerning  death — Mind  and  mat- 
ter essentially  contrary  to  each  other — Motion  the  result  of  thought 
— Matter  passive — Mind  active — Matter  obeys — Mind  commands —  i 
Instrumentality  the  only  connection  between  mind  and  matter — Mat- 
ter destructible — Mind  indestructible — Difference  in  the  creation  of 
vegetables,  animals,  and  man — The  common  view  as  to  the  deriva- 
tion of  the  word  Adam  erroneous. 

In  the  previous  chapter  I  mentioned  a  few  texts  which 
have  been  thought  sufficient  by  some  people  to  authorize 
the  conclusion  that  the  Bible  regards  death  as  the  extinc- 
tion of  a  man's  body  and  soul. 

Having  carefully  investigated  those  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  I  pointed  out  how 
very  common  is  the  usage  with  the  inspired  writers  to 
employ  the  word  soul^  not  only  for  the  immortal  part  of 
man,  but  for  the  man  himself;  and  examples  were  ad- 
duced to  corroborate  what  I  asserted.  There  still  re- 
mains, however,  one  most  important  text  which  seems, 
at  first  sight,  very  strong  and  decisive  in  favor  of  the 
view  by  which  death  is  considered  the  end  of  man.  This 
text  is  written  in  the  fifth  verse  of  the  sixth  Psalm, 
where  we  thus  read  :  ''  For  in  death  there  is  no  remem- 
brancq  of  thee ;  in  the  grave  who  shall  give  thee  thanks  ?" 

Th^^^pte^^ing  quotation  fp^tn  tite-^  writi»gs  frf  -the  ^>. 
Bftftlmist  cannot  fail  to  produce  an  impression  of  the  first 
magnitude  on  the  minds  of  all  that  may  be  inclined  to 
question  the  fact  of  man's  continuous  existence  after  he 
has  passed  the  Jordan  of  death.  The  words  are  pecu- 
liarly striking,  as  a  moment's  consideration  must  show; 
(38) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES,  39 

and  if  they  cannot  be  properly  explained,  the  next  best 
thing  is  to  leave  them  alone.  On  a  subject  of  such  vital 
importance  we  maintain  that  an  incorrect  exposition  is 
worse  than  no  exposition.  Is  it  really  a  fact  that  in 
death  no  man  can  remember  God,  and  that  in  the  grave 
no  one  is  capable  of  giving  Him  thanks?  If  this  be  true, 
the  maintainers  of  the  doctrine  already  mentioned  have 
some  apparent  grounds  for  their  views  respecting  death, 
and  those  who  think  differently  will  have  the  onus  of  pro- 
ducing an  interpretation  which  is  proved  to  be  correct  by 
the  analogy  of  Scripture.  Any  inquiring  mind,  when  it 
comes  in  contact  with  a  text  of  this  description,  naturally 
wishes  to  know  the  meaning  thereof,  and  for  the  attain- 
ment of  its  object  opens  the  works  of  some  distinguished 
commentator,  where  a  proper  solution  of  the  difficulty  is 
expected  to  be  found;  but,  alas,  how  often  indeed  do  we 
open  the  works  of  these  expounders  of  God's  word  to  be 
disappointed,  or  to  find  as  many  different  shades  of  opinion 
as  will  leave  us  in  difficulties  of  a  more  formidable  char- 
acter ! 

Our  remarks  may  be  verified  by  quoting  a  paraphrase 
of  the  passage  under  consideration  from  the  Commentary 
of  Bishop  Patrick,  and  it  is  in  the  following  words: 

"  For  there  I  can  have  no  opportunity  to  do  Thee  ser- 
vice, the  dead  being  utterly  unable  to  commemorate  Thy 
wonderful  works  and  propagate  the  memory  of  them  to 
posterity.  As  long  as  I  live  I  will  show  forth  Thy 
praise  ;  but  who  can  celebrate  Thy  name  and  instruct 
Thy  people  in  the  grave  ?"  A  careful  perusal  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  verses  of  this  Psalm  will  convince  any 
one  that  no  such  meaning  as  that  assigned  by  the  bishop 
can  be  admitted.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  inquire  at 
present  into  the  true  signification  of  this  text,  as  I  have 
determined  to  reserve  it  for  its  proper  place. 

I  have  said  thus  much  concerning  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist,  lest  my  readers  should  be  led  to  imagine  that 
I  might  pass  it  over  in  silence ;  but  this  is  not  by  any 
means  my  intention. 

Let  us  now  proceed  with  a  further  consideration  of  the 
first  opinion,  which  holds  that  death  is  the  destruction, 


40  SCRIPTITRAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

or,  more  fitly,  the  extinction,  of  the  compound  being  whom 
we  designate  man.  We  emphatically  deny  that  death  is 
the  extinction  of  man.  For  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a 
fact  that  no  two  things  in  nature  are  so  radically  distinct 
from  each  other,  and  so  completely  contrary,  as  mind  and 
matter.  And  therefore  how  any  one  can  bring  himself  to 
believe  that  they  are  one  and  the  same  thing,  is  to  me 
absolutely  inconceivable.  Matter  is  dead  in  its  essence, 
and  it  will  forever  remain  in  that  inanimate  state,  unless 
some  external  powers  are  brought  and  applied  to  it  for 
the  purpose  of  removal.  Matter,  in  consequence  of  its 
essence,  has  no  inherent  power  of  motion,  and  if  it  has  no 
inherent  power  of  motion  it  must  be  utterly  incapable  of 
thougjit ;  for,  speaking  accurately  on  the  subject,  motion 
is  the  result  of  thought,  or  action  in  obedience  to  a  deter- 
mination of  the  will.  In  fact,  thoughts  are  the  parents  of 
actions,  whether  good  or  bad.  And  no  man  will  deny 
his  capacity  to  change  his  own  thoughts,  and  the  power 
to  effect  this  change  must  be  in  the  man  himself.  Well, 
if  in  the  man,  to  what  part  shall  we  ascribe  its  residence  ? 
We  cannot  give  the  virtue  to  the  body,  for  in  that  case 
we  should  be  endowing  our  animal  frames  with  an  in- 
tellectual apparatus  which  they  never  did  possess,  and 
which  they  are  absolutely  incapable  of  possessing.     And 

/  note  further  that,  if  matter  were  capable  of  thinking, 
reasoning,  or  planning,  there  can  be  no  assignable  cause 
why  man  should  be  one  iota  more  intelligent  than  a  bird, 
a  fish,  or  a  horse.     Assuming  it  to  be  true  that  matter  is 

.  capable  of  thinking,  wherever  matter  is  found  we  should 

(  expect  thought  or  intelligence. 

Matter  may  be  distinguished  by  its  passive  state,  mind 
by  its  active  principle ;  mind  commands,  matter  obeys. 
That  which  in  its  essential  nature  does  think,  and  that 
which  in  its  essential  nature  does  not  think,  cannot  be 
the  same  thing.  They  are  as  diametrically  opposed  to 
each  other  as  light  and  darkness,  life  and  death. 

The  only  connection  between  mind  and  matter  resolves 
itself  into  instrumentality.  The  body  is  simply  the  in- 
strument or  channel  through  which  the  mind  operates. 
Hence  it  is  that,  when  the  functions  of  the  body  are  ob- 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  41 

structed  by  disease,  the  operations  of  the  mind,  and  not 
the  mind  itself,  are  to  some  extent  retarded.  Again, 
matter  is  divisible,  and  therefore  destructible;  while 
mind  or  spirit  is  single  in  its  essence,  and  therefore  inde- 
structible. We  shall  now  consult  the  philosophy  of  the 
Bible  for  additional  proofs  on  this  point. 

On  closely  investigating  the  successive  steps  in  crea- 
tion, as  detailed  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  we  learn 
how  striking  was  the  formation  of  man  in  comparison 
with  that  of  brutes.  We  find  the  latter  have  belonging n, 
to  them  only  one  element,  that  of  the  ground  which  be- 
came a  beast  as  soon  as  the  command  issued  from  Jehovah ; 
nor  does  there  appear  to  have  been  any  difference — in  the 
mode  of  bringing  into  existence — between  animals  and 
the  produce  of  the  earth,  for  precisely  the  same  sort  of 
language  is  employed  by  the  sacred  historian.  In  Gen- 
esis (i.  11)  we  read  these  words: — ''And  God  said.  Let 
the  earth  bring  forth  grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and 
the  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit  after  his  kind."  Thus  we 
find  God  speaking  about  the  produce  of  the  ground.  And 
by  turning  to  the  twenty-fourth  verse  of  the  same  chapter, 
we  see  the  same  sort  of  language  used  respecting  the 
various  kinds  of  animals: — ''And  God  said,  Let  the  earth 
bring  forth  the  living  creature  after  his  kind,  cattle,  and 
creeping  thing,  and  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind.'^/^ 
From  the  foregoing  texts  it  is  evident  that  Scripture 
makes  but  little  difference  between  animal  and  vegetable 
life;  and  this  uniformity  and  consistency  are  practically 
recognized  by  the  Almighty  in  commanding  man  to  eat 
the  flesh  of  animals  as  well  as  the  herb  of  the  field.  Do 
we  then  find  such  language  used  in  regard  to  the  creation 
of  man?  Is  it  said  in  the  divine  injunction,  "Let  the 
earth  bring  forth  man"  ?  By  no  means.  "  God  said  (Gen. 
i.  26),  We  will  make  man  in  our  own  image,  according  to 
our  own  likeness."  This  language  concerning  the  crea- 
tion of  man  must  have  been  employed  designedly  to  im- 
press upon  Biblical  readers  and  students,  in  every  age  of 
the  world,  the  amazing  difference  between  human  nature 
and  all  other  natures  under  the  sun.  Jehovah's  expressly 
declaring  that  man  should  be  made  in  the  image  of  God, 


42  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 

stamps  Adam  and  his  posterity  with  an  awful  dignity, 
to  which  no  other  created  intelligence  can  presume  to 
aspire.  To  regard  man  as  on  a  level  with  animals,  or  to 
suppose  that  he  sprang  from  them,  must  be  the  essence 
of  infidelity  and  a  preposterous  absurdity.  Before  I  pro- 
ceed further  with  our  subject,  it  will  not  be  improper  to 
explain  why  the  progenitor  of  the  human  race  was  called 
by  the  name  of  Adam.  The  prevailing  opinion  on  this 
point  has  stood  firmly  for  two  thousand  years,  nearly 
every  religious  denomination  appearing  quite  satisfied 
with  the  common  explanation.     We  beg  respectfully  to 

/^  state  that  we  differ  from  this  generally  received  view, 
and  we  do  so  on  the  ground  of  its  absurdity.  We  have 
no  weakness  for  giving  credence  to  this  or  that  doctrine 
because  it  happened  to  be  believed  by  some  few  great 
men,  or  the  multitude  at  large.  Those  who  hold  the 
common  opinion  about  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the 
word  Adam  tell  us  that  it  means  ^^red  eartli,''^  and  that 
the  name  was  applied  to  the  first  man  because  God  made 
him  out  of  the  ground.  Looking  at  this  account  super- 
ficially, we  may  say  that  it  carries  with  it  the  appearance 
of  truth ;  but  the  moment  we  go  beyond  the  surface  our 
eyes  are  opened,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  we  think 
differently,  because  we  think  more  accurately. 

Now,  if  the  father  of  the  human  race  received  the  name 
of  Adam  simply  because  he  had  been  made  out  of  the 
earth — and  after  all  it  was  only  his  body,  and  not  the 
man  himself,  that  originated  from  the  ground  —  how 
comes  it  to  pass  that  all  the  brutes  are  not  called  Adams 
as  well  as  man?  for  they  were  formed  out  of  the  ground 
in  the  same  manner  as  our  ancient  forefather.  And  this 
will  be  seen  on  referring  to  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis 
and  the  nineteenth  verse,  where  it  is  written: — ''  Out  of 
the  ground  the  Lord  God  formed  every  beast  of  the  field 

\  and  every  fowl  of  the  air.'^ 


CHAPTER  lY. 

Application  of  Hebrew  terms — Adam  gave  names  to  all  the  animals — 
The  name  Adam  given  by  God  Himself — Meaning  of  the  term  Adam 
— Why  so  called — Our  Lord  named  Jesus  before  His  incarnation — No 
other  created  intelligence  denominated  Adam — Genesis  ix.  5  explained 
— God  inflicts  punishment  on  the  suicide  —  Derivation  of  the  word 
Adam — Job  xix.  25,  26,  27 — New  translation — Explanation — Error  in 
the  Authorized  Version — Future  disembodied  state — The  words  of  our 
Lord  on  quitting  this  world  —  First  opinion  without  foundation  — 
Death  not  the  termination  of  man's  existence. 

From  what  little  was  said  in  the  last  chapter,  it  is  easy 
to  see  the  absurdity  of  the  commonly  received  interpreta- 
tion respecting  the  signification  of  Adam,  and  at  the  same 
time  learn  how  very  inconsistent  it  must  be  to  assign  no 
better  reason  for  his  obtaining  that  name,  and  handing 
it  down  to  posterity.  In  the  application  of  Hebrew  terms V 
to  animals,  things,  or  persons,  it  was  customary,  in  the 
first  place,  to  discover  the  most  prominent  feature  in  the 
animal  or  thing  to  be  named,  and  after  having  obtained 
this  information,  the  name  was  imposed  upon  the  subject 
or  recipient  of  such  designation.  It  was  upon  this  com- 
mon-sense method  that  all  the  various  kinds  and  different 
sorts  of  animals  were  brought  to  Adam  to  see  what  he 
would  call  them.  He  must  have  examined  them,  and  on 
finding  out  the  distinguishing  feature  in  each,  he  would 
impose  the  name  in  strict  accordance  with  that  feature, 
in  order  that  the  nature  of  the  animal  might  be  stamped 
in  the  name.  Now,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  first 
man  gave  names  not  only  to  all  the  animals,  but  even  to 
his  own  wife ;  but  it  may  be  asked.  Who  gave  Adam  his 
name?  God  Himself  gave  Adam  his  name,  because  it 
was  applied  to  him  before  his  formation;  God  used  the 
expression  ''Adam,"  when  He  said  man  should  be  made 
in  His  image,  and  consequently  our  great  ancestor  re- 

(43) 


44  SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 

ceived  the  name  of  Adam  before  his  creation,  just  in  the 
same  manner  as  our  Lord  was  called  Jesus  by  the  angel 
prior  to  His  conception  in  the  womb.  This  account  is 
written  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  the  second  chapter  and 
twenty-first  verse.  It  will  hence  follow  that  God  Him- 
self called  the  first  man  Adam  ;  and  why  ?  Because  man 
was  to  have  something  peculiar  belonging  to  him.  The 
word  Dl»s,  or  Adam,  is  derived  from  noi,  a  root,  in  the 
original  language,  which  signifies  to  resemble,  to  be  like  ; 
and  therefore  Adam  denotes  similitude,  or  resemblance, 
and  the  name  is  exclusively  used  of  him  and  his  posterity 
because  they  were  made  in  the  image  or  likeness  of  God. 
This  name  has  never  been  given  to  any  created  intelli- 
gence except  man,  because  he  alone,  of  all  creatures, 
was  stamped  with  the  Divine  image.  Were  we  to  test 
the  mighty  range  of  God's  stupendous  creation,  ascend- 
ing to  the  greatest  heights  and  descending  into  the  low- 
est depths,  we  could  not  find  even  a  solitary  creature 
which  has  been  created  after  the  likeness  of  God,  with 
the  exception  of  man.  We  have  no  Scriptural  authority 
whatever  for  concluding  that  even  the  angels  have  be- 
longing to  them  this  mighty  and  wonderful  dignity,  by 
virtue  of  which  there  is  a  close  relationship  existing 
between  man  and  God.  This  may  be  assigned  as  one 
reason  why  our  Lord  took  upon  Himself  human  nature 
(Heb.  ii.  14),  being  made  in  all  respects  like  unto  His 
brethren,  sin  only  excepted  (Heb.  iv.  15).  I  would  then 
endeavor  to  impress  upon  the  reader  this  important  fact, 
— Adam  signifies  image,  and  the  appellation  was  given  to 
him  on  account  of  his  having  been  made  in  the  likeness  of 
God.  And  now  we  leave  the  matter  to  the  discretionary 
powers  of  any  one,  to  determine  whether  the  commonly 
received  explanation  of  this  word  or  that  which  has  just 
been  given  is  the  more  likely  to  be  correct.  After  know- 
ing all  these  extraordinary  facts  as  to  man's  nature  and 
dignity,  is  it  not  the  greatest  folly  to  imagine  that  he 
could  possibly  be  the  offspring  of  any  brute?  We  need 
only  mention  such  a  view  for  it  to  be  condemned  with 
indignation  by  every  mind  capable  of  exercising  its  facul- 
ties aright. 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  45 

These  points,  however,  I  shall  endeavor  to  make  more 
evident  when  I  come  to  discuss  the  supposed  torpidity 
of  man's  soul.  That  death  is  by  no  means  the  termina- 
tion of  man's  existence  will  appear  from  an  investigation 
of  what  may  be  properly  designated  one  of  the  most 
striking  passages  in  the  Bible;  and  we  are  of  opinion 
that  if  this  text  had  received  due  attention,  no  question 
could  have  arisen  as  to  whether  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  teach  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  as  well  as 
the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments.  The  portion 
of  Scripture  to  which  we  refer  will  be  found  written  in 
the  ninth  chapter  of  Genesis  and  the  fifth  verse.  The\ 
words  are:  "And  surely  your  blood  of  your  lives  will  I 
require ;  at  the  hand  of  every  beast  will  I  require  it,  and 
at  the  hand  of  man ;  at  the  hand  of  every  man's  brother 
will  I  require  the  life  of  man."  The  first  part  of  this 
verse  is  supposed  to  denounce  suicide,  and  the  second 
homicide ;  and  therefore  it  may  not  be  improper  to  ask 
what  a  beast  has  to  do  in  the  matter.  When  a  man 
loses  his  life  through  what  happens  to  be  inflicted  upon 
him  by  another,  or  if  he  should  lay  violent  hands  upon 
himself  and  thereby  destroy  his  own  life,  in  what  respect 
can  we  make  a  brute  responsible  ?  Those  who  imagine 
the  common  translation  to  be  correct,  will  probably  un- 
derstand the  passage  to  mean  that  any  beast  that  shall 
have  caused  the  death  of  a  human  being  should  be  killed  ; 
but  surely  the  text  can  have  no  such  signification,  unless 
it  be  by  implication.  It  is  almost  beneath  the  sacred 
historian  to  place  the  brute  creation  in  so  prominent  a 
position ;  for  would  not  common  sense  teach  any  man 
that  a  beast  which  had,  through  the  ferocity  of  its  nature, 
caused  the  death  of  a  human  being,  ought  to  be  killed 
immediately,  or  at  least  be  prevented  for  the  future  from 
committing  such  violence?  It  must  also  be  noted  that 
the  punishment  here  spoken  of  is  to  be  inflicted,  not  by 
deputy,  but  by  Jehovah  Himself,  which  w^ould  hardly 
have  been  the  case  if  the  words  referred  to  a  beast. 
''  From  the  hand  of  every  soul,  that  is,  after  the  soul  is 
severed  from  the  body,  I  will  require  it,"  saith  the  Al- 
mighty.    The  position  of  the  word  rendered  beast  in  this 


46  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

passage  shows  most  clearly  that  it  cannot  have  that  sig- 
nification. The  proper  meaning  of  the  word  riTl  in  the 
text  under  consideration  is  the  soul  of  man ;  and  there- 
fore, instead  of  the  present  translation,  we  should  render 
the  words  thus:  ''And  surely  your  blood  of  your  lives 
will  I  require ;  from  the  hand  of  every  soul  I  will  de- 
mand it."  This  translation  makes  the  sense  clear  and 
intelligible,  furnishing,  as  it  does,  a  truth  of  the  first  im- 
portance. Since,  then,  we  are  taught  that  God  will  re- 
quire punishment  from  the  suicide,  it  may  be  asked  how 
this  can  be  accomplished  when  the  corpse  only  remains. 
Scripture  says,  ''from  the  hand  of  every  soul  will  I  re- 
quire it."  Though  the  body  and  soul,  through  the  hand 
of  death,  cease  their  connection  with  each  other  till  the 
resurrection  morning,  yet  the  soul  still  survives,  and  from 
this  soul  it  is  said,  "I  will  require  it."  This  word  soul 
in  the  Hebrew  is  now  called  "living "or  "iaiperishable," 
because  it  has  ceased  to  perform  its  functions  through  the 
instrumentality  of  a  perishing  body.  From  this  highly 
important  passage  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  we  learn  that 
the  soul  survives  the  body,  that  it  is  responsible  to  God, 
and  that  punishment  can  and  will  be  inflicted  upon  it 
when  separated  from  its  fleshly  habitation.  And' as  this 
soul,  when  separated  from  the  body,  is  said  to  be  living 
or  imperishable,  we  are  justified  in  concluding  that  death 
is  not  the  extinction  of  man.  It  cannot  be  denied,  then, 
that  this  single  text  of  Scripture  teaches  in  the  clearest 
manner  conceivable  both  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and 
its  continuous  responsibility  to  God  after  death.  (See 
Hebrew  Review  and  Magazine  of  Rabbinical  Literature, 
V^vol.  i.  p.  208.) 

The  next  portion  of  Scripture  to  which  I  shall  invite 
attention  will  be  found  in  the  book  of  Job  (xix.  25,  26, 
27),  where  it  is  thus  written :  "  For  I  know  that  my  Re- 
deemer liveth,  and  that  He  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day 
upon  the  earth:  and  though  after  my  skin  worms  de- 
stroy this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God :  whom  I 
shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not 
another."  In  the  25th  and  2r)th  verses  we  find  six  wards 
put  in  italics,  which  shows  they  are  not  in  the  original, 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  4^ 

having  been  supplied  by  our  translators  to  complete  the 
sense.  Now,  as  we  do  not  consider  this  rendering  faith- 
fully reflects  the  original,  we  must  produce  a  translation 
which  will  convey  the  true  meaning  of  the  sacred  penman; 
— "For  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  He  shall 
hereafter  stand  upon  the  earth.  If  after  my  skin  they 
destroy  this  body,  yet  out  of  my  flesh  I  shall  see  God, 
whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  my  eyes  and  not 
another's  shall  behold."  According  to  the  preceding  trans- 
lation it  is  evident  what  must  have  been  the  sacred  writer's 
meaning  when  he  was  speaking  of  his  calamities.  Job 
knew  that  his  Redeemer  lived,  and  believed  that  He 
would  at  the  last  manifest  Himself  upon  the  earth  as  the 
Judge  of  all  men  and  vindicator  of  the  righteous.  But  he 
goes  further,  and  asserts  that  if  after  his  skin  they  (mean- 
ing the  boils  with  which  he  had  been  smitten)  should 
destroy  his  body  (by  the  disease  proving  fatal),  yet  they 
could  not  destroy  him,  that  is,  his  soul,  for  out  of  his  flesh 
he  should  see  God,  whom  he  would  see  for  himself.  The 
great  error  in  the  passage  of  the  Authorized  Version  con- 
sists in  making  the  inspired  writer  say  he  should  see  God 
inhis  fiesh,  whereas  he  expressed  his  conviction  that  he 
would  see  God  out  ofhisfiesh,  even  while  the  latter  was 
decomposing  within  the  silent  precincts  of  the  grave.  The 
doctrines  inculcated  by  this  remarkable  text  are:  (1)  A 
future  disembodied  state  of  existence ;  (2)  The  general 
Resurrection;  and  (3)  The  final  Judgment.  Here,  then, 
we  see  Job  teaches  us  that,  at  death,  he  would  main- 
tain his  own  personal  identity,  and  that  in  this  state  he 
expected  to  be  with  God,  and  to  hold  communion  with 
Him.  Death,  in  the  opinion  of  this  inspired  writer,  is 
therefore  simply  the  liberation  of  the  soul  from  the  body. 
The  original  runs  thus :  nts^nm,  yet  out  of,  or  separated 
from,  my  flesh.  If  man  does  not  possess  a  higher  origin 
than  the  mere  dust  of  the  earth,  what  signification  shall 
we  attach  to  those  words  of  our  Redeemer,  who  said,  on 
quitting  this  world  (Luke  xxiii.  46),  ''  Father,  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit"  ?  Although  his  body  re- 
mained upon  the  cross,  and  afterward  was  buried  in  the 
tomb,  yet  his  spirit  or  soul  he  delivered  into  the  hands  of 


48  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

his  heavenly  Father.  Holy  Job,  too,  testified  (xxxii.  8) 
that  ''  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty  giveth  them  understanding."  And  in  Eccles. 
(xii.  T)  we  are  informed  that  at  death  ''The  dust  returns 
to  the  earth,  and  the  spirit  to  God  who  gave  it."  The 
former  of  these  insists  that  there  is  a  spirit  within  man, 
while  the  latter  demonstrates  that  he  is  a  compound  of 
earth  and  spirit ;  the  one  at  its  separation  returning  to 
its  primitive  clod,  the  other  to  Him  who  is  the  father  of 
spirits.  And  Zechariah  (xii.  1)  acquaints  us  of  Jehovah 
''  Who  formeth  the  spirit  of  man  within  him."  And  this 
clearly  shows  the  spirit  to  be  a  principle  distinct  from  the 
earthly  frame.  '*  Handle  me  and  see,"  saith  our  Lord, 
*'for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones."  (Luke  xxiv.  39.) 
Having  advanced  arguments  and  quotations  from  Scrip- 
ture to  show  that  death  cannot  be  the  extinction  of  man, 
we  may  fairly  conclude  how  utterly  destitute  of  founda- 
tion is  the  first  opinion  that  we  have  been  combating,  and 
how  such  a  notion  is  calculated  to  involve  facts,  princi- 
ples, and  creeds  in  the  utmost  confusion,  making  man, 
who  is  the  lord  of  creation,  level  with  the  perishing  brutes, 
as  well  as  casting  a  sad  reflection  upon  God.  For  what 
object  could  the  Almighty  have  in  view,  supposing  He  in- 

^ tended  death  to  terminate  our  existence?  What  is  the 
use  of  his  threatenings  against  vice,  and  his  exhortations 
to  virtue,  if  we  are  not  to  receive  the  rewards  or  suff"er 

l^the  punishments  after  death  ?  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
many  of  those  who  regard  death  as  the  end  of  man's  ex- 
istence, would  be  too  glad  to  find  that  it  really  was  the 
extinction  of  soul  and  body. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  good  and  bad  not  intermingled  in  the  next  world — Both  unavoid- 
ably mingled  in  this  world — Death  closes  the  probationary  state  of 
man — Judas  Iscariot — His  final  doom — The  righteous  dead  rest  from 
their  labors — Dives  and  Lazarus — Prayers  of  no  avail  after  death — 
This  present  world  the  place  of  man's  probation — All  covenants  have 
conditions — Sodom  and  Gromorrah — Parable  of  the  wheat  and  tares — 
Why  the  wicked  arc  not  severed  from  the  righteous  in  this  world. 

Having  finished  our  observations  on  the  first  view  of 
this  interesting  subject,  we  now  pass  on  to  inquire  into 
the  truth  of  the  Second  Opinion,  which  holds  and  main- 
tains that  there  is  one  and  onli/  one  common  receptacle 
for  the  dead ;  and  that  into  this  place  all  are  cast,  whether 
good  or  bad  ;  and  within  its  mighty  precincts  they  remain 
till  the  great  day  of  judgment.  Assuming  this  opinion  to 
be  true,  we  are  bound  to  conclude  that  Cain  and  Abel, 
the  first  murderer  and  the  first  martyr,  Judas  and  Saul, 
the  apostles  and  all  the  prophets,  the  atheist,  the  infidel, 
the  skeptic,  the  blasphemer,  and  indeed  every  shade  of 
character,  are  at  this  moment  mingled  together  in  the  ut- 
most confusion  ;  and,  if  in  the  utmost  confusion,  no  doubt, 
in  the  greatest  misery.  Now,  to  mingle  the  good  and  the 
bad  in  such  a  manner,  after  their  term  of  probation  is 
ended,  must  be  unjust,  because  it  would  be  involving  the 
innocent  with  the  guilty ;  and  to  do  this  is  incompatible 
with  the  righteous  attributes  of  that  God  at  whose  hands 
every  man  will  be  rewarded  according  to  his  deeds.  We 
know,  by  experience,  that  the  good  and  the  bad  are 
unavoidably  iniermingled  in  the  present  world,  not  only 
because  the  providence  of  God  has  so  decreed  that  the 
wheat  and  the  tares  should  grow  together  till  the  time  of 
the  harvest,  but  because  it  is  required  by  that  probation- 
arv  state  through  which  every  man  is  compelled  to  pass. 

4  (49) 


50 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 


These  matters  are  altered  bj  death,  when  the  probationary 
career  ends  and  stern  judgment  begins ;  but  it  is  surely 
quite  out  of  the  question  to  suppose,  even  for  a  moment, 
that  the  regenerate  and  unregenerate  should  be  placed  in 
that  juxtaposition  in  which  the  one  could  interfere  with 
the  other.  We  may  depend  that  the  righteous  dead  can 
find  no  pleasure  among  the  wicked  dead ;  neither  are  w^e 
to  suppose  the  wicked  spirits  capable  of  enjoying  happi- 
ness in  the  society  of  the  righteous.  The  jumbling 
together  of  the  different  classes,  and  the  making  of  no 
distinction  between  them,  strikes  at  the  foundation  of  our 

^notions  of  justice.  It  is  neither  impossible  nor  improb- 
able that  there  may  be  found  those  who  take  an  analogical 
view  of  the  subject,  and  argue  the  point  in  this  manner  : 
When  assertions  are  made  to  the  effect  that  gross  injustice 
would  be  committed  by  the  intermingling  of  the  righteous 
and  wicked  dead  in  that  world  which  lies  beyond  the 
grave,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  we  do  not  as  a  rule  con- 
sider it  a  violation  of  justice  for  the  two  characters  to  be 
mingled  together  in  the  present  world  ?  Glanced  at  super- 
ficially, this  objection  seems  to  have  some  foundation  in 
reason  and  justice,  but  when  we  carefully  examine  it,  we 
find  it  has  no  logical  basis.  The  two  cases,  in  fact,  are 
by  no  means  parallel,  and  therefore  the  conclusions  drawn 
from  the  one  cannot  in  fairness  be  deduced  from  the  other. 
This  present  world  is  the  place  of  man's  probation,  and 
consequently  the  good  and  the  bad  are  unavoidably  min- 
gled together;  but  since  death  is  the  limit  of  man's  proba- 
tion, his  doom  must,  by  virtue  of  that  event,  be  irrevo- 
cably fixed.  The  one  is  the  time  of  sowing,  the  other  that 
of  reaping.  In  the  next  world  there  is  no  probation,  and 
therefore  no  involving  of  the  innocent  with  the  guilty. 

^11  covenants  have  certain  conditions,  and  all  conditions 
have  prescribed  limits.  That  there  will  be  a  separation 
between  the  just  and  the  unjust  immediately  after  death, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  of  the  Almighty's  declaring 
to  Abraham  that  He  would  spare  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Sodom  for  the  sake  of  ten  righteous  persons,  provided 
that  number  could  have  been  found  within  the  precincts 
of  that  notoriously  wicked  city.     Does  this  great  fact  look 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  mat B&y.     ''' §fE     ^J- 
like  including   the   innocent  in   the  puniHhttfeit  ofeyae       ■*  ^  - 


guilty  ?     Surely  not.  ^"^^-/POT;'  'Tl 

Our  views  are  also  confirmed  by  the  parable*^p*tCforr<{fe  ^^  '^ 
by  our  blessed  Lord  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel  (xiii.  24-30), 
where  we  read  these  very  significant  words  :  ''  Another 
parable  put  he  forth  unto  them,  saying,  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  likened  unto  a  man  which  sowed  good  seed  in 
his  field :  but  while  men  slept,  his  enemy  came  and  sowed 
tares  among  the  wheat,  and  went  his  way.  But  when 
the  blade  was  sprung  up,  and  brought  forth  fruit,  then 
appeared  the  tares  also.  So  the  servants  of  the  house- 
holder came  and  said  unto  him.  Sir,  didst  not  thou  sow 
good  seed  in  thy  field  ?  from  whence  then  hath  it  tares  ? 
He  said  unto  them,  An  enemy  hath  done  this.  The  Ser- 
vants said  unto  him.  Wilt  thou  then  that  we  go'  and 
gather  them  up  ?  But  he  said.  Nay ;  lest  while  ye  gather 
up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the  wheat  with  them.  Let 
both  grow  together  until  the  harvest ;  and  in  the  time  of 
harvest  I  will  say  to  the  reapers.  Gather  ye  together  first 
the  tares,  and  bind  them  in  bundles  to  burn  them  ;  but 
gather  the  wheat  into  my  barn."  We  learn  from  this 
portion  of  Scripture  that  the  tares  are  not  allowed,  even 
in  this  world,  to  exist  among  the  wheat  for  their  own 
sake,  but  exclusively  on  account  of  the  wheat.  God,  in 
His  providence,  permits  the  wicked  and  the  righteous  to 
remain  together  in  this  state  of  probation,  lest  by  remov- 
ing the  former,  an  injustice  or  wrong  might  be  inflicted 
upon  the  latter.  Such  is  the  import  of  these  words, 
*'  Lest  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the 
wheat  with  them^  We  may  hold  the  most  powerful  con- 
viction that  there  is  no  possibility  of  the  bad  molesting 
the  good,  neither  can  the  former  derive  any  consolation 
from  communion  with  the  latter.  The  wheat  and  the 
chaff,  the  sheep  and  the  goats,  even  before  the  resurrec- 
tion, must  be  kept  separate  from  each  other.  There  is, 
however,  no  need  to  multiply  arguments  for  the  establish- 
ment of  our  teaching  upon  this  point,  as  the  Scriptures 
themselveg  are  clear  and  decisive.  We  are  distinctly 
taught  by  the  Bible  that  there  is  a  proper  place  for  each 
individual  at  the  separation  of  body  and  soul ;  each  ad- 


52  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES, 

vancing  to  that  particular  locality  which  has  been  pre- 
viously marked  out  for  him,  according  to  the  manner  in 
which  he  conducted  himself  during  his  probationary 
career.  We  must  all  recollect  what  is  written  concerning 
that  man  of  whom  Scripture  testifies  (Matt.  xxvi.  24)  that 
it  would  have  been  far  better  for  him  had  he  never  been 
born.  I  allude  to  Judas  Iscariot,  who  is  said,  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  twenty-fifth 
verse,  to  have  fallen  through  transgression  from  his  minis- 
try and  apostleship,  that  he  might  go  to  his  own  place. 
f  Mark  the  words ;  that  he  might  go  to  his  own  place.  And 
what  can  such  language  signify,  but  that  Judas  was  con- 
veyed into  a  region  which  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  so 
notorious  a  sinner  I  We  are  told  too  in  the  book  of  Reve- 
lation (xiv.  13)  that  the  dead,  who  die  in  the  Lord,  are 
blessed,  that  they  rest  from  their  labors,  and  that  their 
works  do  follow  them.  These  assertions  could  not  be 
true,  if  the  good  and  the  bad  are  placed  in  such  a  way 
that  there  is  no  bridge  between  them.  Instead  of  the 
pious  resting  from  their  labors  after  death,  they  must, 
according  to  this  opinion,  be  commencing  a  protracted 
existence  of  misery  ;  for  how  could  any  one  be  otherwise 
than  wretched  in  the  society  of  such  characters  as  that  of 
Judas,  who  sold  his  Lord  and  Master  for  thirty  pieces  of 
silver?  Again,  we  have  a  more  decisive  foundation  upon 
which  to  build  for  the  confirmation  of  what  we  are  now 
submitting  to  the  consideration  of  the  reader. 

In  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  (xvi.)  we  find  a  most  com- 
plete refutation  of  that  view  which  is  content  to  put  the 
saved  and  lost  souls  into  one  locality,  where  there  is  no 
partition.  For  in  that  narrative  we  read  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus,  the  one  immediately  after  death  cast  into  a  prison 
of  anguish,  deprived  of  everything  but  sheer  existence, 
and  asking  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  his  thirsty  tongue ; 
while  the  once  suffering  pauper  was  in  the  bosom  of 
Abraham,  enjoying  repose  and  happiness.  And  it  ought 
to  be  further  noted,  that  when  the  rich  man  raised  his 
eyes,  he  saw  Abraham  afar  off.  The  distance,  indeed, 
between  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  is  so  immeasurably 
great,  in  respect  of  time,  that  were  one  of  the  lost  spirits 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  53 

to  undertake  the  journey,  it  must  be  absolutely  impossible 
for  him  to  accomplish  the  same,  though  he  were  to  be 
traveling  daring  all  the  ages  of  eternity  I  Abraham  also 
informed  the  unfortunate  creature,  that  the  individual, 
who  formerly  lay  at  his  gates  covered  with  wounds,  was 
now  comforted,  while  he  (Dives)  was  tormented.  And, 
to  give  the  whole  affair  a  climax,  "  the  father  of  the  faith- 
ful'^ declared  in  calm  but  decisive  language,  which  ex- 
cludes every  glimmering  of  hope,  that  '*  besides  all  this 
there  is  between  us  and  you  a  great  gulf  fixed,  in  order 
that  they,  who  would  pass  from  hence  to  you,  cannot ; 
neither  can  they  pass  to  us  that  would  come  from  thence." 
This  language  appears  so  clear  and  conclusive  that  we 
think  it  a  waste  of  time  to  bring  forward  any  additional 
passages  for  corroboration.  And  therefore  we  feel  justi- 
fied in  saying  that  the  second  opinion  concerning  the 
state  of  the  soul  after  death,  has  been,  in  the  preceding 
part  of  this  chapter,  sufficiently  answered. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

• 

Third  Opinion  as  to  the  state  of  the  dead — Not  a  state  of  sleep — Com- 
position of  man — Man  endowed  with  two  lives — Animal  and  spiritual 
life — Instinct  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  animal  life — Spiritual 
life  characterized  by  reason  and  conscience — Spiritual  life  liberated 
by  the  destruction  of  the  animal  life — God's  mode  of  governing  mat- 
ter, animals,  and  man — Man's  superiority — His  power  to  resist  the 
will  of  God — Man  passes  through  three  stages — Not  philosophically 
true  to  say  the  departed  are  dead — Primary  essential  attribute — 
Wherein  it  consists — Primary  essential  attribute  of  the  soul — Texts 
of  Scripture  alleged  in  support  of  the  soul's  sleeping  between  death 
and  the  general  judgment — A  sleeping  soul  not  an  unconscious  soul. 

The  Third  Opinion  demanding  our  careful  medita- 
tion is  that  which  supposes  the  soul,  as  soon  as  it  leaves 
the  body,  to  enter  into  a  state  of  profound  sleep  and  in- 
sensibility ;  in  which  condition  it  remains  till  the  resur- 
rection. And  this  period  of  time,  during  which  the 
soul  continues  unconscious,  may  be  twenty,  a  hundred, 
or  even  several  thousand  years,  depending,  of  course,  in 
this  respect,  upon  each  person's  hour  of  death  and  the 
day  appointed  for  the  final  judgment  of  the  world.  I 
believe  this  view  was  countenanced  by  a  late  arch- 
bishop, who  has  been  followed  by  many  that  are  not  in 
the  habit  of  thinking  for  themselves.  In  concluding  a 
discourse  upon  this  subject.  His  Grace  makes  the  follow- 
ing statement : — ''  Upon  the  whole,  then,  I  think  that  the 
notion  of  the  soul,  when  separated  from  the  body,  entering 
immediately  on  a  state  of  enjoyment  or  suffering,  which 
is  to  last  till  the  resurrection,  has  at  least  as  many  reasons 
against  it,  as  for  it,  in  Scripture."  Such  are  the  views 
of  a  late  dignitary  of  our  Church,  and  it  now  remains  for 
us  to  examine  this  opinion,  to  see  whether  or  not  we 
should  follow  it  without  further  advice.  Our  object 
cannot  be  better  accomplished  than  by  considering  the 
(54) 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  55 

composition  of  man  and  the  nature  of  that  death  to 
which  all  men  are  doomed.  This  we  think  will  throw 
some  light  on  the  question  at  issue. 

To  obtain  a  complete  notion  of  man's  nature,  we  must 
begin  with  his  creation,  which  we  shall  regard  as  the 
basis  of  the  subsequent  remarks,  and  which  is  necessary 
for  a  clear  understanding  of  the  subject.  In  Genesis 
(ii.  T)  we  read  that  ''the  Lord  God  formed  man  out  of 
the  dust  of  the' ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul."  From  this 
verse  it  is  manifest  that  the  creation  of  man  involved  two 
distinct  operations,  each  of  which  was  intimated  when 
God  declared  that  he  should  be  fashioned  after  the  Divine 
image.  The  Lord  God  fashioned  or  shaped  the  body  of 
the  first  man  out  of  the  moist  clay,  but  after  this  model- 
ing, the  frame  could  be  nothing  but  a  mere  machine,  and 
therefore  inanimate.  This,  then,  we  consider  to  be  the 
first  operation,  and  it  is  implied  in  the  words  "we  will 
make  man  or  human  nature  in  our  image,"  words  which 
undoubtedly  have  a  reference  to  Jehovah  incarnate.  The 
second  operation,  and  the  most  important  in  the  formation 
of  Adam,  was  the  breathing  into  his  nostrils  the  breath 
of  life.  Now,  the  word  here  rendered  ''  life"  is  plural  in  \ 
the  original,  and  therefore  denotes  lives.  And  the  text 
will  then  read  :  ''And  Jehovah  God  formed  this  very 
Adam  from  the  dust  of  red  earth,  and  breathed  into  his 
nostrils  a  spirit  of  lives,  therefore  that  Adam  became  ay 
living  person." 

According  to  this  text,  and  nothing  can  be  plainer,  man 
at  his  creation  had  infused  into  him  by  the  Almighty  two 
lives,  each  of  which  has  its  own  peculiar  functions  to 
perform.  One  of  these  lives  may  be  called  animal,  and 
is  that  by  virtue  of  which  his  physical  frame  is  enabled 
to  perform  all  its  natural  operations.  The  life  which 
imparts  power  to  the  physical  frame  for  the  performance 
of  its  natural  functions  consists  in  the  blood,  and  so  far 
as  this  animal  life  is  concerned,  man  stands  on  a  level 
with  brutes,  inasmuch  as  they  have  a  life  of  the  same 
character.  The  Jews  were  strictly  prohibited  from  eating 
the  blood  of  any  animals  killed  in  sacrifice,  but  were 


56  SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 

always  commanded  to  pour  it  out  upon  the  ground,  or  to 
use  it  in  sprinkling  the  altar  and  other  things  pertaining 
to  the  temple.  They  were  not  to  eat  the  blood,  because 
it  was  impregnated  with  life ;  and  this  is  that  animal  life 
of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  and  one  of  those 
breathed  into  the  body  of  our  progenitor  at  his  creation. 
The  distinguishing  feature  of  this  animal  life,  which  is 
common  to  men  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  is  instinct. 
Hence  we  find  that  both  men  and  brutes  have  instinct, 
and  this  instinct  sometimes  displays  itself  with  such  per- 
fection, that  many  have  concluded  that  inferior  animals 
are  endowed  with  reason.  No  doubt  there  is  great  diffi- 
culty in  ascertaining  where  instinct  ends  and  reason 
begins.  That  the  actions  of  men  and  brutes  should 
occasionally  resemble  each  other  is  not  by  any  means  so 
very  strange,  since  one  sort  of  life  is  common  to  both. 
The  greatest,  however,  of  all  distinctions  remains  to  be 
mentioned,  and  it  is  this ; — that  man  possesses  two  lives 
and  brutes  only  one,  hence  death  is  not  merely  the  de- 
struction, but  the  extinction,  of  an  animal.  The  other 
and  nobler  life  breathed  into  Adam  was  the  immortal 
spiritual  life,  which  enables  man  to  hold  communion  with 
God  both  here  and  hereafter.  The  distinguishing  features 
of  this  spiritual  life  are  reason  and  conscience.  It  is  the 
immortal  part  which  can  never  perish ;  and  on  this  ac- 
count it  is  that  our  Lord  told  his  disciples  (Matt.  x.  28) 
^'  not  to  fear  them  who  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to 
kill  the  soul,  yea,  rather  to  fear  Him  who  hath  power  to 
destroy  both  body  and  soul  in  hell.^'  This  text  clearly 
shows  that  men  may  destroy  the  animal  life,  which  is  in 
the  blood,  and  still  there  remains  a  spiritual  life  which 
no  man  can  even  touch.  And  these  remarks  and  argu- 
ments are  further  demonstrated  by  a  consideration  of  our 
Lord^s  words  to  the  penitent  thief;  for  He  promised  that 
repenting  malefactor  that  he  should  be  with  Him  that 
very  day  in  Paradise,  and  this  was  to  be  effected  after 
the  animal  life  of  the  culprit  had  been  destroyed ;  yes, 
more  than  this,  the  destruction  of  the  dying  man^s  animal 
life  was  absolutely  necessary  in  order  that  the  spiritual 
life  he  possessed  might  be  in  Paradise  with  his  Lord  and 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  57 

Master.  It  was  on  account  of  man  having  in  his  body 
a  spiritual  life  that  our  Redeemer  was  induced  to  breathe 
upon  his  apostles  and  to  say  (John  xx.  22),  ''Receive  ye 
the  Holy  Spirit. '^  The  animal  life  could  derive  no  benefit 
from  all  the  external  breathing  in  the  world ;  it  was  the 
spiritual  life  in  the  apostles  which  became  the  recipient 
of  that  divine  breath,  through  whose  power  their  souls 
were  vivified.  This  is  the  reason  of  Job's  saying  (xxxiii. 
4),  *'  The  Spirit  of  God  hath  made  me,  and  the  breath  of 
the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life."  It  may  be  observed 
that  this  spiritual  life  continues  in  the  body  so  long  as  the 
animal  life  remains,  but  on  the  destruction  of  the  latter 
the  former  departs  and  returns  to  God  who  gave  it.  Our 
statements  on  this  subject  appear  still  more  evident  from 
the  different  ways  in  which  God  exercises  authority  over 
matter,  animals,  and  men.  We  would  ask  the  reader  to  V 
bear  in  mind  that  God  governs  matter  hj  force,  brutes 
by  instinct,  and  man  by  reason.  Hence  it  is  that  God 
says  to  man  (Isa.  i.  18),  "Come  and  let  us  reason  to- 
gether.'^ No  created  existence  can  ever  array  itself  f 
against  the  will  of  God,  or  in  any  way  violate  his  be- 
hests, unless  it  possess  the  faculty  of  reason.  Man's 
power  to  resist  the  will  of  God  demonstrates  his  supe- 
riority to  every  other  animal  in  creation,  and  proves  that 
he  has  the  faculty  of  reason  and  is  capable  of  forming  an 
independent  judgment.  From  the  foregoing  observations, 
and  especially  from  the  words  of  our  Lord,  we  see  that 
death  is  simply  the  separation  of  soul  and  body.  Let  us 
notice,  in  the  second  place,  that  every  man  is  bound  to 
pass  through  three  stages  before  he  reaches  his  final 
home,  or  destination ;  and  in  each  stage  he  never  loses 
his  personal  identity,  because  it  is  a  continuation  of  the 
same  life  and  same  consciousness  which  never  leave  him, 
for,  if  they  did,  he  could  not  be  the  very  identical  person. 
The  first  of  these  gradations  is  realized  at  man's  natural 
birth,  or  when  he  is  born  into  this  world;  and,  for  dis- 
tinction's sake,  I  call  this  development  his  temporal 
birthday.  The  second  mighty  change  is  effected  when 
the  soul  and  body  are  severed  from  each  other  by  the 
cold  hand  of  death,  the  latter  being  committed  to  the 


58  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

ground,  "  in  sure  and  certain  hope  of  the  resurrection  to 
eternal  life,"  and  the  former  returning  to  God;  and  this 
state  in  human  existence  I  designate  man's  intermediate 
birthday,  which  extends  from  the  time  of  death  till  that 
of  the  resurrection.  The  final,  or  third  change,  which 
man  is  compelled  to  undergo,  comes  to  pass  at  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection,  or  the  universal  Easter, 
when  the  bodies  and  souls  of  all  men  shall  be  reunited; 
and  this  change  I  denominate  man^s  eternal  birthday. 
By  the  term  death,  then,  as  applied  to  a  human  being, 
we  are  to  understand  nothing  more  than  a  temporary 
disunion  between  a  mortal  and  an  immortal  nature,  or 
the  separation  of  a  perishing  body  from  an  imperishable 
soul.  And  this  notion  of  death  being  simply  a  severance 
is  actually  implied  and  presupposed  in  the  idea  of  a 
resurrection  and  the  reunion  of  the  two  natures,  for  it 
would  be  absurd  to  speak  of  the  resurrection  and  reunion 
of  our  souls  and  bodies  if  they  had  not  been  previously 
united  and  previously  separated.  And  permit  me  to  say 
that,  in  speaking  of  the  departed,  we  have  no  more  right, 
neither  have  we,  in  strict  philosophical  language,  any 
more  authority  to  assert  that  a  man  is  dead  because  the 
soul  leaves  his  body,  than  we  have  a  right  to  say  that  a 
bird  is  dead  merely  because  it  makes  a  hole  in  its  shell 
and  passes  out  of  its  present  habitation  into  another  state 
of  existence  of  quite  a  different  character  from  that  in 
which  it  previously  lived.  The  living  creature  steps  out 
of  the  limited  abode  where  it  was  confined,  living  and 
thriving,  while  the  shell,  its  former  habitation,  is  left 
behind  to  decay  and  perish. 

Let  us  note,  further,  that  everything  in  nature  possesses 
a  peculiar  characteristic,  which  makes  the  thing  to  be 
what  it  is,  and  without  this  feature  the  thing  in  question 
could  not  be  what  it  is.  This  peculiar  characteristic  is 
called  by  logicians  the  primary  essential  attribute  of  a 
thing.  A  few  examples  will  be  sufficient  to  illustrate  our 
meaning  and  make  it  easily  comprehended.  I  suppose 
that  every  one  in  his  proper  senses  knows  what  a  ball  is, 
or  that  it  is  something  round.  Now,  we  ask.  What  is  the 
primary  essential  attribute  of  the  ball,  or  what  can  be 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  59 

the  distinguishing  feature  which  makes  the  thing  in  ques- 
tion to  be  a  ball  ?  We  answer  by  saying  that  7'otundity, 
or  roundness,  constitutes  the  primary  essential  attribute 
in  the  ball,  because  if  we  destroy  the  rotundity  of  the 
ball,  by  making  it  square,  the  thing  no  longer  remains  a 
ball,  and  therefore  we  call  it  by  some  other  name  which 
is  equally  calculated  to  mark  out  its  particular  feature. 

Again,  we  would  ask.  What  is  the  primary  essential 
attribute  of  water  ?  And  we  say  softness  is  the  primary 
essential  attribute  of  water,  for  if  we  take  away  softness 
from  the  fluid  it  no  longer  remains  water.  When,  for 
instance,  this  liquid  is  converted  into  something  else  by 
intense  cold,  we  call  it  ice ;  and  this  distinction  is  highly 
proper  and  of  immense  utility  in  all  the  practical  concerns 
of  life.  Now,  every  existence  under  the  sun  has  some 
peculiar  feature  belonging  to  it,  or  what  is  logically  called 
the  primary  essential  attribute,  which  makes  that  thing 
to  be  what  it  really  is,  and  clearly  distinguishes  it  from 
all  other  things.  Let  us  apply  these  remarks  to  the  soul 
of  man  by  asking  and  answering  the  following  question  : 
*'  What  is  the  specific  characteristic,  or  primary  essential 
attribute,  in  a  human  soul  ?"  We  believe  that  thinking 
is  the  primary  essential  attribute  of  the  soul ;  but  how 
shall  we  define  this  thinking?  Thinking  I  define  to  be\ 
silent  invisible  action,  which  is  the  primary  essential 
attribute  of  the  soul ;  and  therefore,  should  the  soul 
completely  cease  from  thinking,  it  must  by  virtue  of  that 
change  lose  the  primary  attribute,  and  with  such  a  loss 
it  cannot  be  a  soul  in  the  proper  signification  of  the  , 
word.  Should  the  soul,  therefore,  at  death,  discontinue 
to  think,  by  falling  at  once  into  a  profound  sleep,  and  by 
losing  all  consciousness,  from  that  moment  we  justly 
cease  to  regard  it  as  a  human  soul.  Since  our  souls  are 
capable  of  dwelling  within  the  confines  of  a  perishing 
body,  making  their  effects  known,  felt,  and  recognized 
through  the  instrumentality  of  such  gross  material  as  that 
of  which  our  animal  nature  is  composed,  is  it  not  pre- 
sumable that  the  same  souls  will  have  the  power  of  act- 
ing far  more  freely  w^hen  they  shall  be  liberated  from 
such  a  burden  ?     To  my  mind,  it  appears  more  amazing 


60  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

that  a  spirit  can  act  through  the  instrumentality  of  life- 
less aud  sluggish  matter  than  that  it  should  perform  its 
operations  without  that  sluggish  matter.  All  the  body 
can  accomplish  in  its  union  with  the  soul  is  to  retard  the 
action  of  the  latter,  because  in  the  body  it  acts  mediately , 
I  while  out  of  the  body  it  acts  immediately. 

We  shall  now  mention  some  of  the  texts  of  Scripture 
that  have  been  alleged  in  support  of  the  opinion  which 
considers  the  soul  to  be  in  a  state  of  sleep  between  death 
and  judgment.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (vii.  60)  we 
thus  read:  "And  Stephen  kneeled  down  and  cried  with 
aloud  voice,  'Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge.' 
And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  fell  asleep."  And  in  St. 
John's  Gospel  fxi.  11),  ''Jesus  saith  unto  his  disciples, 
'  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth,  but  I  go  that  I  may  awake 
him  out  of  sleep.'  "  From  these  and  other  passages  of  a 
like  character,  it  has  been  concluded  that  the  soul,  imme- 
diately after  its  separation  from  the  body,  enters  into  a 
state  of  sleep.  Notwithstanding  the  high  authorities 
and  distinguished  dignitaries  who  have  come  forward  to 
support  this  view,  we  are  prepared  to  assert  that  the 
word  "  sleep,"  in  its  application  to  the  dead,  never  signifies 
that  the  soul  is  wrapped  in  a  state  of  unconsciousness. 
In  my  humble  opinion,  there  cannot  be  found  in  the  whole 
of  Revelation  a  solitary  passage  where  the  expression 
"  sleep"  can  have  any  such  meaning  ;  and  we  shall  not 
spare  either  time  or  pains  to  prove  and  establish  beyond 
refutation  what  we  are  now  advancing.  On  a  subject  of 
such  incalculable  importance  as  this,  we  must  do  our 
utmost  to  settle  the  question,  and  thereby  produce  har- 
mony and  concord  among  those  whose  minds  at  present 
are  full  of  doubt,  and  distracted  by  uncertainties  and  the 
variety  of  opinions  which  unfortunately  prevail  in  the 
religious  world.  I  hope,  in  the  subsequent  pages,  to  de- 
monstrate and  clearly  establish  the  fact — that  the  soul 
does  not  sleep  during  its  separation  from  the  body, 
although  some  supposed  high  authorities  would  have  us 
believe  the  contrarv. 


CHAPTER  YIL 

The  dead  not  in  a  state  of  insensibility — Signification  of  the  word 
"  sleep  "  in  its  application  to  the  departed — Words  used  in  the  Greek 
Testament  respecting  the  deceased — 'AnoOvrjoKecv  a.pplied  both  to  men 
and  brutes — Kocfiav  and  Kadevdetv  used  in  reference  to  dead  men — 
Awaking  presupposes  sleeping — Explanation  of  Acts  vii.  60 — Diflfer- 
ence  in  signification  between  the  words  *'to  be  dead"  and  "to  bo 
asleep" — Why  men  after  death  are  said  to  sleep — Death  separates  a 
man's  soul  and  body — Animals  extinguished  by  death — 1  Cor.  xv.  6 
explained — Man's  resurrection  intimated  by  the  word  "sleep" — Scrip- 
ture proofs  for  the  consciousness  of  departed  souls. 

In  the  concluding  portion  of  the  last  chapter  I  stated 
my  conviction  that,  when  persons  are  spoken  of  after 
death  as  being  asleep,  the  inspired  writers  do  not  intend 
to  impress  the  minds  of  their  readers  with  a  notion  that 
the  dead  are  in  a  state  of  insensibility  or  unconsciousness 
till  the  resurrection.  The  word  ''  sleep  ^'  is  used  by  them 
in  a  very  different  sense,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  im- 
mediately ;  and  when  I  have  done  so,  it  will  remain  for 
the  judicious  reader  to  draw  his  own  conclusions,  and  to 
judge  impartially  which  of  the  two  harmonizes  most  with 
Scripture. 

Now,  in  the  original  language  of  the  New  Testament 
we  find  three  Greek  words  used  in  reference  to  those  w^ho 
have  departed  this  life,  and  these  three  words  in  question 
are :  dTioOvijffxetv  (apothneskein),  which  means  to  die ; 
xoLixav  (koiman)and  xaOeodecu  (katheudein),  both  of  which 
signify  to  sleep.  The  word  ar.oOwrjdxetv,  **to  die,''  is  ap- 
plied both  to  men  and  animals,  without  any  distinction 
whatever,  and  is  confined  or  limited  in  its  signification  to 
death,  there  being  in  the  word  no  reference  to  the  indi- 
vidual or  any  intimation  of  him  after  his  decease.  In  a 
word,  the  notion  of  death,  or  the  simple  act  of  dying,  is 
all  that  the  expression  ever  means,  and  on  this  account  it 

(61) 


62  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

can  be  applied,  and  it  actually  is  applied,  to  any  and 
every  creature  in  which  there  is  the  breath  of  life.  In 
St.  Matthew's  Gospel  (viii.  32)  we  see  the  word  employed 
in  speaking  of  the  death  of  some  swine.  The  verse 
thus  reads :  ''  And  he  said  unto  them  (the  devils),  Go ;  and 
when  they  were  come  out,  they  went  into  the  herd  of 
swine,  and  behold,  the  whole  herd  of  swine  ran  violently 
down  a  steep  place  into  the  sea,  and  perished  in  the 
waters.''  The  original  word  in  this  verse  for  ''  perished" 
is  d-iOwMv^.  Again,  in  the  same  Gospel  (xxii.  24,  2Y)  we 
find  the  expression  applied  to  the  death  of  man,  when  the 
Sadducees  came  to  our  Lord  and  said  to  Him,  ''Master, 
Moses  said  if  a  man  a-oOdvrj,  die,  having  no  children,  his 
brother  shall  marry  his  wife,  and  raise  up  seed  unto  his 
brother."  And  the  narrative  goes  on  to  say,  in  the 
twenty-seventh  verse,  that  ''  Last  of  all  the  woman 
(oLTziOavs)  died  also." 

We  may  now  plainly  see  that  d'<)dvij(Txev>  is  used  in  an 
unlimited  sense.  All  the  information  either  expressed  or 
impHed  in  the  word  is,  that  the  man  or  animal  died.  It 
never  hints  or  in  any  way  suggests  an  idea  respecting 
the  effects  or  consequences  of  such  death.  Hence,  while 
d7:()d'^rj(7xetv  is  general  in  its  application,  the  other  two 
expressions,  namely,  xaOeudetv  (katheudein)  and  xot/iav 
(koiman),  are  used  in  a  special  sense,  being  confined  to 
men  who  are  dead  There  is  not  a  solitary  instance  in 
the  sacred  record  where  we  can  find  these  two  words 
used  in  reference  to  the  death  of  brutes.  Where  Scrip- 
ture speaks  of  the  death  of  an  animal,  it  nowhere  says 
such  and  such  an  animal  fell  asleep ;  and  we  shall  show 
the  reason  of  this  very  proper  and  highly  important  dis- 
tinction. Let  it  be  clearly  understood,  then,  that  the  ex- 
pression sleeping  implies  waking,  and  therefore  whenever 
we  find  in  the  Bible  this  word  ''sleeping,"  used  of  the 
deceased,  it  never  means  that  the  soul  is  in  a  state  of  un- 
consciousness, but  the  very  contrary,  denoting,  as  it  does, 
that  the  deceased  will  7nse  again.  And  now  surely  we 
can  experience  little  difficulty  in  perceiving  with  what 
propriety  and  beauty  the  word  is  applied  to  the  departed, 
and  what  a  "sure  and  certain  hope'*  it  ought  to  inspire 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  63 

in  the  hearts  of  all  those  that  the  dead  have  left  behind 
to  lament  and  deplore  their  loss.  It  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  state  here  that  our  English  word  cemetery  is 
derived  from  one  of  these  Greek  expressions  which  signify 
to  sleep,  and  consequently  cemetery  literally  means  a  dor- 
mitory or  sleeping-place.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
(vii.  60)  we  learn  that  Stephen,  while  the  enemies  of 
Jesus  were  busily  engaged  in  stoning  him,  ''fell  asleep." 
The  words  ''  he  fell  asleep,'^  then,  according  to  our  expla- 
nation previously  given,  imply  two  things  ;  the  first  is, 
that  Stephen  died,  and  the  second,  that  he  was  to  rise 
again.  Had  the  narrative  simply  informed  us  that  Ste- 
phen died,  his  death  would  have  been  announced  to  us 
without  any  intimation  of  his  resurrection  ;  but  since  the 
sacred  historian  informs  us  that  the  martyr  fell  asleep,  he 
indicated  to  us  the  fact  of  Stephen's  death  and  the  cer- 
tainty and  expectation  of  his  resurrection.  The  next  por- 
tion of  Scripture  I  wish  to  explain  in  this  part  of  my 
work,  is  written  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  (xi.  11,  12,  13, 
14),  and  I  shall  quote  the  whole  of  the  passage  before 
commenting  upon  any  portion  of  it.  ''And  after  that  He 
saith  unto  them,  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth,  but  I  go 
that  I  may  awake  him  out  of  sleep.  Then  said  His  disci- 
ples, Lord,  if  he  sleep  he  shall  do  well.  Howbeit  Jesus 
spake  of  his  death ;  but  they  thought  He  had  spoken  of 
taking  of  rest  in  sleep.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  them 
plainly,  Lazarus  is  dead.'' 

From  this  passage  we  learn  that  when  our  Lord  said 
"  Lazarus  sleepeth,"  He  meant  that  Lazarus  was  dead; 
but  the  disciples,  not  clearly  understanding  the  meaning 
of  our  Redeemer's  words,  at  once  concluded  that  Lazarus 
was  simply  and  literally  reposing  in  sleep.  Hence  they 
say,  "  Lord,  if  he  sleep  he  shall  do  well ;"  then  said  Jesus 
unto  them,  plainly  and  distinctly,  "Lazarus  is  dead." 
The  grand  and  palpable  distinction  then  between  these 
expressions,  "to  be  dead"  and  "to  be  asleep,"  when  they 
are  used  in  reference  to  such  as  have  left  the  present 
world,  is  this  :  "To  he  dead^^  simply  expresses  departure 
from  this  life,  without  intimating  anything  further  as  to 
what  may  transpire  respecting  the  deceased.     "To  he 


64  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES, 

asleep  "  implies  and  involves  a  death  which  is  sooner  or 
later  to  be  followed  by  a  resurrection  of  the  deceased 
person.  In  saying,  therefore,  that  Lazarus  was  asleep, 
our  Saviour  implied  not  only  that  Lazarus  was  actually 
dead,  but  He  also  hinted  that  he  would  rise  from  the 
dead.  Had  our  Divine  Master  simply  said,  Lazarus 
is  dead,  He  would,  in  thus  speaking,  have  given  no  inti- 
mation of  His  friend^s  resurrection.  This  sleeping,  then, 
as  I  have  now  pointed  out,  and  which  I  feel  most  anxious 
to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  those  who  peruse  these 
pages,  is  applied  exclusively  to  men  who  are  dead,  on  ac- 
count of  their  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

Should  it  be  asked  why  the  word  ''  sleeping'^  is  never 
used  in  reference  to  the  death  of  animals,  my  answer  is 
that,  according  to  Holy  Scripture,  no  animal  is  destined 
to  rise  again ;  for  if  brutes  are  to  participate  in  the  resur- 
rection it  is  absurd  for  the  Bible  to  confine  the  application 
of  the  word  to  men.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  death  can 
only  separate  a  man's  soul  from  his  body,  while  it  com- 
pletely extinguishes  an  animal.  It  may  not  be  useless  to 
mention  a  few  texts  more  to  show  the  truth  of  our 
assertions.  In  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (xv. 
6)  we  are  told  by  the  apostle  that  our  Lord,  after 
His  resurrection,  ''  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred 
brethren  at  once,  of  whom  the  greater  part  remained 
unto  that  present  time,  but  some  were  fallen  asleep." 
Here  St.  Paul  speaks  of  some  who  were  at  that  time  still 
alive,  and  therefore  could  bear  their  testimony  to  the  fact 
of  Christ's  resurrection;  while  he  mentions  others  who 
had  been  witnesses  also  of  the  same  fact,  but  were  now- 
fallen  asleep, — ^that  is,  they  were  dead.  The  contrast  in 
this  passage,  it  will  be  readily  noticed,  is  not  between  the 
living  and  the  sleeping,  for  that  could  be  no  contrast  at 
all,  but  between  the  dead  and  the  limng.  Another  pas- 
sage of  Scripture,  which  I  think  ought  not  to  be  omitted 
while  we  are  upon  this  subject,  is  written  in  St.  Luke's 
Gospel  (viii.  52,  63) :  ''  And  all  wept  and  bewailed  her, 
but  He  said,  Weep  not;  she  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth. 
And  they  laughed  Him  to  scorn,  knowing  that  she  was 
dead."  Now,  in  these  words,  we  should  carefully  observe 


SGRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  Olffj^SiES^^  ^[^'^ 


OF    T] 

v\  /^  -^  -it  0  J  y  y 

that  the  friends  of  the  damsel  knew  sSfiMijas^deed^- and  ^ 

they  said  so,  and  even  derided  Jesus  whehsSXtpTdthem  " 
that  she  was  not  dead,  but  asleep.  The  previ&os-explana- 
tion  of  the  word  ''sleep"  will  clearly  show  in  what  sense 
our  Lord  used  the  expression.  This  damsel  was  actually 
dead  in  the  same  manner  as  Lazarus,  and  yet  our  Lord 
employs  the  term  sleep  in  both  instances ;  and,  in  this 
case.  He  said  the  maid  was  not  dead,  but  asleep.  Here 
let  it  be  particularly  noted  that  our  Lord  declared,  in  an 
unmistakable  manner,  that  the  damsel  was  not  dead,  but 
asleep,  and  yet  she  was  really  dead.  How,  then,  shall 
we  account  for  our  Lord's  havin^^  made  such  an  assertion  ? 
There  certainly  must  have  existed  in  His  mind  a  distinc- 
tion between  the  condition  of  death  and  that  of  sleep,  in 
respect  of  any  one  deceased;  a  distinction  which  the 
people  did  not  appear  to  understand,  otherwise  there 
could  have  been  no  foundation  for  their  derision.  In 
makinc^  the  declaration  then,  our  Redeemer  wished  to 
give  His  hearers  more  correct  notions  of  death,  by  teach- 
ing them  to  use,  in  speaking  of  the  departed,  an  appro- 
priate term,  which  combines  a  past  event  and  q>  future 
result,  because  the  death  of  every  human  being  must 
necessarily  be  succeeded  by  a  resurrection,  when  cor- 
7mption  shall  be  changed  into  incorruption,  and  mortality 
into  immortality. 

When  our  Redeemer  said  the  maid  was  asleep,  he 
thereby  intimated  that  she  would  rise  again,  and  that 
that  change  was  upon  the  point  of  being  accomplished. 
Whenever  the  souls  of  the  departed  are  spoken  of  as 
being  asleep,  the  expression  is  always  used  in  reference 
to  their  resurrection,  and  is  undoubtedly  the  most  appro- 
priate term  that  could  be  applied  to  them.  There  is 
another  text  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel  (xxvii.  52),  in  these 
words :  "  And  the  graves  were  opened,  and  many  bodies 
of  the  saints  which  slept,  arose.^^  This  text  is  so  clear 
and  decisive  as  to  require  no  further  remarks. 

Now,  if  our  previous  exposition  is  founded  upon  truth, 
where,  in  Scripture,  can  we  find  the  authority  for  assert- 
ing that  the  soul,  at  death,  falls  into  a  profound  sleep,  con- 
tinuing, as  it  must  do,  in  a  torpid  condition,  and  with  the 

5 


66  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

total  loss  of  all  sensibility  till  it  shall  be  awakened  by  the 
blast  of  the  archangePs  trumpet,  when  the  Lord  Himself 
shall  descend  to  call  the  dead  from  their  graves  ?  So  far 
is  the  Bible  from  inculcating  the  doctrine  of  an  unconscious 
state  of  the  soul  between  death  and  the  resurrection,  that 
it  utterly  condemns  it,  and  demonstrates  that  such  teach- 
ing is  ''grounded  upon  no  warranty  of  Scripture,  but 
rather  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God."  Did  not  our  Lord 
tell  the  penitent  malefactor  that  he  should  be  with  Him 
that  day  in  Paradise  ?  Though  the  Roman  soldiers  and 
blaspheming  rebels  might  take  that  dying  malefactor, 
break  his  bones,  dash  him  to  pieces,  and  afterward  grind 
his  body  to  powder,  yet  while  they  were  thus  busily  em- 
ployed with  the  culprit's  body,  his  spiritual  personality 
was  in  Paradise;  but  what  advantage  could  his  soul 
derive  from  its  presence  in  such  a  region,  if  it  must  be 
utterly  insensible  to,  and  as  absolutely  incapable  of,  the 
enjoyment  ?  Locality,  with  its  enjoyments,  loses  all  dis- 
tinction to  an  unconscious  soul.  Moreover,  can  anything 
be  more  explicit  than  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus,  the  former  of  whom  was  in  a  place  of  torment, 
and  the  latter  in  one  of  felicity?  Both  were  conscious, 
sentient,  reflecting  beings,  capable  of  enjoying  happiness 
and  suffering  misery.  And  indeed  if  the  soul  is  wrapped 
up  in  a  state  of  sleep  at  death,  how  came  it  to  pass  that 
our  Lord  went  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  and  yet  did  not 
sleep  among  them  ?  Surely  He  could  not  be  an  exception 
to  the  general  rule  in  so  important  a  matter.  In  Isaiah 
(Ivii.  2)  the  separate  souls  are  said  to  walk  in  their  up- 
rightness, and  in  several  places  in  the  Book  of  the  Reve- 
lation they  are  represented  as  worshiping  God,  singing 
and  crying  aloud,  and  serving  him  day  and  night ;  but 
how  can  the  disembodied  spirits  do  these  things  if  they 
are  in  a  profound  sleep  and  absolutely  insensible  ?  If 
the  soul  sleep  during  its  separate  condition,  how  is  it 
that  Moses,  fifteen  hundred  years  after  his  death,  held  a 
conversation  with  our  Redeemer  at  His  transfiguration  ? 
The  same  may  also  be  affirmed  of  Elias,  who  was  present 
on  the  Mount.  (See  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  xvii.  1,  2,  3.) 
Again,  we  are  told  (Lul^e  xx.  31,  38)  that  "  God  is  not 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  6Y 

a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living,  for  all  live  unto 
Him.^'  Be  it  observed,  however,  that  the  departed  can 
in  no  vi^ay  be  said  to  live  unto  God,  if  their  souls  are  all 
the  time  in  an  unconscious  state.  Instead  of  living  unto 
God,  they  vs^ould  be  dead  unto  Him.  To  live  unto  God 
implies  relationship,  and  a  full  consciousness  of  that  rela- 
tionship. If  the  soul  were  sleeping,  we  might  say  that 
it  existed,  but  we  could  not  with  propriety  assert  that  it 
lived  unto  God.  Again,  these  words,  '*  I  am  the  God  of 
Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob," 
imply  that  the  souls  of  the  patriarchs,  after  death,  were 
as  fully  alive  and  as  conscious  of  their  connection  with 
God  as  ever  they  were  during  their  sojourn  on  this  side 
the  grave.  This  inference  I  draw  from  the  fact  that  the 
Almighty  calls  Himself  ''the  God  of  Abraham"  after 
Abraham  was  dead,  and  He  designated  Himself  *'  the 
God  of  Isaac,"  not  only  after  his  death,  but  even  while 
alive  on  the  earth,  as  may  be  seen  by  referring  to  Genesis 
(xxviii.  13),  where  we  read,  ''And  behold  the  Lord  stood 
above  the  ladder,  and  said  unto  Jacob,  I  am  the  Lord 
God  of  Abraham  thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac." 
Now,  at  the  time  these  words  were  spoken  to  Jacob, 
Abraham  was  dead  and  buried,  but  Isaac  was  still  living, 
as  will  be  perceived  by  reading  the  context.  If  the  Al- 
mighty is  not  a  God  of  dead  but  of  living  persons,  and 
calls  Himself  the  God  of  Isaac  before  the  patriarch  dies, 
and  also  after  he  is  dead,  it  must  follow  conclusively,  that 
the  soul  of  Isaac  not  only  continued  its  existence  after 
departing  hence,  but  also  that  it  was  as  capable  of  enjoy- 
ing happiness  with  God  out  of  the  body  as  it  was  while  in 
the  body.  To  be  the  God,  then,  of  Isaac  in  this  world 
and  to  be  the  God  of  Isaac  in  the  next  world,  cannot 
imply  less  than  the  same  degree  of  relationship,  union, 
and  consciousness  in  both  conditions.  We  now  draw 
this  chapter  to  a  close  by  repeating  what  we  have  already 
.  said, — that  the  soul,  at  death,  does  not  enter  into  a  state  oi 
profound  sleep,  but  continues  its  own  conscious  existence, 
with  a  capacity  to  enjoy  happiness  or  suffer  misery. 


CHAPTER    YIII. 

"Fourth  opinion — Purgatory — Romanists  not  acquainted  with  the  locality 
or  pangs  of  purgatory — Five  texts  advanced  by  the  Papists  in  proof 
of  purgatory — The  doctrine  as  now  professed  in  the  Church  of  Rome 
not  heard  of  till  500  years  after  Christ — St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  xii.  31, 
32 — Period  of  human  redemption — Its  commencement — Its  end — 
Characteristics  of  both — Son  of  man — When  Christ  ceases  to  be  called 
the  Son  of  man — The  time  when  He  will  assume  the  title  of  King — 
"Neither  in  this  world  nor  in  the  world  to  come" — Import  of  these 
words — Belief  of  the  Jews  in  reference  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins — 
Examples — Remission  of  sins  at  the  Judgment  day — Explanation  of 
the  Second  of  Maccabees  (xii.  43-45) — The  Apocrypha  not  inspired 
— Explanation  of  the  First  of  Cor.  iii.  15. 

The  Fourth  Opinion  about  the  condition  of  the  soul 
after  its  severance  from  the  body  is  that  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  is  very  well  known  by  the  name  of 
purgatory,  which  signifies  a  locality  in  which  the  souls  of 
men,  according  to  the  teaching  of  that  religious  denomi- 
nation, are  cleansed  by  fire  from  their  carnal  impurities,  as 
a  preparation  for  their  reception  into  heaven.  The  dogma 
of  this  Church  is  that  nearly  all,  if  not  all,  the  souls  of  the 
best  men  (to  say  nothing  of  the  bad  ones)  have  some 
slight  stains  upon  them,  which  require  to  be  effaced  be- 
fore they  can  enter  heaven.  The  Romanists  do  not  pro- 
fess to  know  much  either  of  the  region,  or  the  nature  of 
the  pangs  suffered  in  purgatory,  neither  are  they  certain 
how  long  t\iQ  departed  spirits  remain  therein;  and  yet 
they  believe  that  those  in  that  condition  are  benefited  by 
the  prayers,  alms,  and  Masses  offered  to  God  on  behalf  of 
their  souls.  If  it  should  so  happen  (and  it  must  often 
happen)  that  a  soul  in  purgatory  has  no  relations  left  on 
earth,  or  if  these  relations  are  so  poor  that  they  cannot 
pay,  the  Church  exercises  charity  toward  such  a  soul  by 
remembering  it  in  her  Masses,  and  by  offering  prayers  on 
(68) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  69 

its  account.  The  Papists  advance  five  texts  for  the  proof 
of  purgatory,  and  therefore  it  will  be  my  duty  to  mention 
these,  and  to  give  them  at  least  that  amount  of  consider- 
ation which  the  subject  requires.  It  may  be  observed 
that  this  doctrine  of  purgatory,  as  it  is  now  professed  in 
the  Church  of  Rome,  was  not  so  much  as  heard  of  till 
five  hundred  years  after  Christ,  and  it  did  not  become 
an  established  dogma  for  some  centuries  after  that.  The 
most  important  of  all  the  passages  of  Scripture  which 
seem  to  countenance  this  doctrine  is  found  in  the  Gos- 
pel of  St.  Matthew  (xii.  31,  32),  and  is  in  these  words: 
''Wherefore  I  say  unto  you,  All  manner  of  sin  and  blas- 
phemy shall  be  forgiven  unto  men ;  but  the  blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  forgiven  unto  men. 
And  whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Son  of  man,  it  shall 
be  forgiven  him ;  but  whosoever  speaketh  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this 
world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come."  In  explaining  these 
words  of  our  Lord,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  nature  of  that  sin  which  is  called 
the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost ;  our  business  is 
with  the  forgiveness  of  it.  The  latter  portion  of  verse 
32  will  be  better  understood  by  a  literal  translation,  thus: 
**  Whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not 
be  forgiven  him — oors  h  rouro)  rcD  alwui  oure  h  ruj  fxiXXo'^rc — 
neither  in  this  age,  nor  in  the  impending  age,^^  These  two 
ages  signify  all  the  time  during  which  human  redemption 
is  going  on.  The  first  age  commences  with  the  fall,  and 
promise  of  a  Saviour  (Gen.  iii.  6, 1,  8,  15),  and  terminates 
with  Christ's  Ascension  (St.  Mark,  xvi.  19).  The  second 
age  begins  at  the  Ascension,  and  ends  with  the  general 
Judgment,  when  the  mediatorial  kingdom  of  the  Messiah 
will  terminate  (1  Cor.  xv.  28),  and  He  Himself  shall  as- 
sume the  character  of  Judge.  The  former  of  these  ages 
was  characterized  by  numerous  sacrifices,  prophecies, 
types,  dreams,  and  visions,  and  personal  manifestations 
of  our  Lord  in  the  form,  and  last  of  all  in  the  nature,  of 
man ;  while  the  latter  is  marked  by  His  human  absence 
and  Divine  presence.  Hence  He  said  to  His  disciples, 
*'  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 


YO  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

age"  (Matt,  xxviii.  20),  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  He 
would  be  with  His  people  to  help  and  succor  them  till 
such  time  as  the  Divine  sentence  shall  have  been  passed 
upon  them.  I  may  also  remind  the  reader  that  our 
blessed  Lord  calls  Himself  the  Son  of  man  till  the  end  of 
the  second  age,  when  redemption  is  to  cease,  after  which 
He  drops  the  title  and  designates  Himself  the  King.  He 
goes  under  the  denomination  of  the  Son  of  man  by  His 
own  authority  so  long  as  the  wheat  and  the  tares  are 
mingled,  but  as  soon  as  the  sheep  and  the  goats  are  sev- 
ered He  ceases  to  call  Himself  the  Son  of  man,  and  takes 
the  title  of  King  instead.  This  account  is  written  in  St. 
Matthew^s  Gospel  (xxv.  31,  34).  Now,  that  we  may 
clearly  understand  our  Lord's  meaning  when  He  says, 
certain  sins  shall  be  forgiven  ''  neither  in  this  world,  neither 
in  the  world  to  come,'^  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind 
that  the  Pharisees  divided  the  totality  of  each  individual's 
sins  into  three  parts,  which  they  believed  would  be  re- 
mitted at  different  times  in  consequence  of  their  under- 
going certain  processes,  by  virtue  of  which  they  enter- 
tained no  doubts  as  to  the  salvation  of  any  Jew.  They 
imagined  that  one-third  of  their  sins  would  be  canceled 
by  repentance  and  the  day  of  atonement ;  another  part, 
by  the  trials,  diseases,  and  hardships  through  which  they 
have  to  pass ;  while  they  supposed  that  death  blotted  out 
the  remaining  portion.  This  doctrine,  that  death  wipes 
off  one-third  part  of  their  sins,  is  founded  upon  a  text 
in  Isaiah  (xxii.  14),  and  is  expressed  in  these  words : 
^*  And  it  was  revealed  in  mine  ears  by  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
Surely  this  iniquity  shall  not  be  purged  from  you  till  ye 
die,  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts."  These  words  pnon-i;; 
(''till  ye  die")  are  not  to  be  understood  as  implying  that 
the  iniquity  spoken  of  in  the  text  would  be  purged  after 
death,  but  that  it  would  never  be  purged.  The  precise 
import  of  this  language  will  be  evident  on  referring  to 
the  First  Book  of  Samuel  (xv.  35),  where  it  is  thus 
written:  ''And  Samuel  came  no  more  to  see  Saul  until 
the  day  of  his  death,"  which  surely  could  not  mean  that 
he  went  to  see  him  after  he  was  dead. 

When  our  Lord,  therefore,  informed  them  that  the  sin 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  71 

against  the  Holy  Ghost  should  not  be  forgiven,  either  in 
this  age  or  in  the  impending  age,  He  was  striking  at  the 
foundation  of  their  groundless  notions,  by  showing  that 
to  what  extent  soever  redeeming  love  and  Divine  mercy 
might  be  magnified  toward  fallen  creatures,  still  there 
does  exist  a  culminating  point  in  the  plan  of  His  moral 
government  and  terms  of  forgiveness,  beyond  which 
there  is  no  possibility  of  going  without  a  manifest  viola- 
tion of  justice,  which  could  neither  be  expected  nor 
granted.  We  are  not  to  understand  our  Redeemer's 
words  as  implying  that  since  the  blasphemy  against  the 
Holy  Ghost  would  not  be  forgiven  in  the  world  to  come, 
there  were  other  sins  which  could  be  pardoned  after 
death.  His  meaning  is  that  under  no  change  of  dispen- 
sation could  that  sin  ever  be  forgiven.  Our  Lord  says, 
"  neither  in  this  age  nor  in  the  impending  age,''  because 
that  mode  of  speaking  was  common  among  the  ancient 
Jews;  for  when  they  wished  to  state  that  they  would 
never  forgive  any  one,  it  was  expressed  by  saying  they 
"  would  not  forgive  hint,  nei^ther  in  this  world,  neither  in 
the  world  to  come."  And  therefore  St.  Matthew,  in 
writing  his  Gospel  primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the  Jews^ 
expresses  himself  in  accordance  with  their  peculiar  man- 
ner of  speaking.  Rabbi  Eliezer,  for  instance,  shows  that 
the  Samaritans  have  no  portion  in  the  world  to  come,  be- 
cause it  is  said,  *'  It  belongs  not  to  you  to  build  with  us 
in  this  world,  nor  in  the  world  to  come."  And  in  another 
Rabbinical  writer  there  is  also  mention  of  a  sick  man  re- 
questing his  son  to  give  him  some  meat  and  drink,  which 
the  physician  had  forbidden  him,  threatening,  if  he  re- 
fused, not  to  forgive  him  "  in  this  world  nor  in  the  world 
to  come."  That  the  preceding  exposition  of  the  phrase, 
^'  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come,"  is 
strictly  correct,  will  be  found  abundantly  proved  by  com- 
paring St.  Mark's  Gospel  (iii.  29),  where  we  have  these 
words:  '^But  he  that  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is  in  danger  of  eternal 
damnation." 

In  this  text  it  will  be  noticed  that  St.  Mark  explains 
St.  Matthew's  phrase,  *'  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in 


72  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

the  world  to  come,"  by  the  word  never.  St.  Luke  uses 
the  same  sort  of  language,  as  may  be  seen  on  referring 
to  his  Gospel  (xii.  10),  where  he  thus  speaks:  "And  who- 
soever shall  speak  a  word  against  the  Son  of  man,  it 
shall  be  forgiven  him;  but  unto  him  that  blasphemeth 
against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him." 
To  say,  therefore,  as  St.  Matthew  does,  that  the  sin  shall 
not  be  forgiven,  **  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the 
world  to  come,"  is  merely  to  state  that  it  shall  never  be 
forgiven,  as  we  have  abundantly  proved.  As  regards 
sins  being  remitted  at  the  judgment  day,  we  may  observe 
that  it  is  simply  putting,  as  it  were,  a  seal  or  stamp  upon 
that  forgiveness  which  the  faithful  recipient  obtains  while 
on  this  side  the  grave.  It  is  on  account  of  this  great 
truth  that  our  Blessed  Lord,  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John, 
says  (iii.  36),  *'  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  ever- 
lasting life;  but  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not 
see  life;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  The 
next  passage  advanced  in  proof  of  purgatory  is  in  the 
2d  Book  of  Maccabees  (xii.  43-45),  and  thus  reads :  "  He 
sent  to  Jerusalem  2000  drachms  of  silver  to  offer  for  a 
sin-offering,  being  mindful  of  the  resurrection.  (For  if 
he  had  not  hoped  that  they  that  were  slain  should  have 
risen  again,  it  had  been  superfluous  and  vain  to  pray  for 
.  the  dead.)  And  also  in  that  he  perceived  that  there  was 
great  favor  laid  up  for  those  that  died  godly.  (It  was  a 
holy  and  good  thought.)  Whereupon  he  made  a  recon- 
ciliation for  the  dead,  that  they  might  be  delivered  from 
sin."  These  quotations,  taken  by  the  Bomish  Church 
from  the  Book  of  Maccabees,  are  of  no  weight  in  the  ar- 
gument, because  that  book  has  no  evidence  of  inspiration, 
being  rejected  even  by  the  Jews,  who  never  allowed  it  a 
place  in  the  canonical  Scriptures.  These  Apocryphal 
books  are  never  used  by  our  Church  to  establish  any 
doctrine,  as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  sixth  Article. 
Nor  have  we  any  evidence  that  our  Lord  ever  recognized 
those  works  which  were  produced  after  the  spirit  of  inspi- 
ration had  ceased.  A  critical  examination,  however,  will 
show  that  the  whole  passage  is  against  purgatory.  For 
it  may  be  fairly  asked,  What  inducement  had  Judas  Mac- 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  ^3 

cabaeus  to  send  his  sum  of  2000  drachms  of  silver  to 
Jerusalem  to  be  offered  for  a  sin-offering  ?  Because  he 
was  mindful  of  the  resurrection.  As  the  forty-third 
verse  informs  us,  he  believed  those  who  had  been  slain 
were  to  rise  again  and  continue  their  existence  in  another 
world,  and  this  conviction  alone  moved  him  to  provide  a 
sin-offering  in  their  behalf.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Judas  did  not  expect  the  dead  to  derive  any  benefit 
from  the  offering  till  after  the  resurrection,  while  souls 
in  purgatory  are  said  to  be  made  safe  through  the  sacri- 
fices in  their  behalf  before  the  resurrection.  Hence  we 
reasonably  conclude  that  this  passage  in  the  Book  of 
Maccabees  does  not  sanction,  but  actually  condemns,  the 
Romish  purgatory.  And,  indeed,  were  there  such  an 
ordeal  for  souls  to  pass  through  in  order  for  their  entire 
purification,  we  are  bound  to  conclude  that  the  oblation 
once  offered  for  the  sins  of  the  world  was  not  absolutely 
complete,  but  required  to  be  supplementalized  by  a  penal 
fire  on  the  other  side  the  grave.  Such  a  notion  is  de- 
grading to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  through  whom  alone 
the  guilty  can  be  cleansed  from  their  sins.  Another  text  is 
brought  forward  to  establish  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  from 
the  First  of  Corinthians  (iii.  15),  and  is  thus  expressed: 
*'If  any  man's  works  shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss: 
but  he  himself  shall  be  saved ;  yet  so  as  by  fire."  The 
plain  meaning  of  this  simple  text  is  this  :  that  the  Chris- 
tian instructor  who  shall  teach  doctrines  which  do  not 
harmonize  with  the  fundamental  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  consequently  on  being  examined  are  con- 
demned by  the  Lord,  shall  suffer  loss;  that  is,  he  shall 
lose  that  reward  which  would  have  been  given  to  him 
had  he  been  a  faithful  and  efficient  teacher  of  Christ's 
doctrine.  He  himself  shall  be  saved,  though  his  work 
perish,  and  yet  with  great  difficulty,  just  as  a  man  es- 
capes with  his  life  from  a  house  on  fire.  The  text  does 
not  say  the  minister  shall  be  saved  through  fire,  but  he 
shall  be  saved  so  as  hy  fire ;  that  is,  on  being  judged, 
such  a  man  shall  save  his  own  life,  but  it  will  be  effected 
with  a  very  narrow  escape.  A  careful  reading  of  the 
whole  chapter  from  which  this  text  is  taken  will  show 


74  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 

that  our  interpretation  is  correct.  After  having  cleared 
the  ground  thoroughly  by  faithfully  explaining  such  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  as  seem  to  favor  purgatory,  we  shall 
be  better  prepared  for  laying  before  the  reader  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Church  of  England  respecting  Hades,  or  the 
Intermediate  State  of  the  departed  dead. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  v.  26. — Explanation  of  our  Lord's  advice  to  the 
debtor — Neither  friends  nor  relatives  to  liquidate  the  debt — Recon- 
ciliation with  God  indispensable  on  this  side  the  grave — Death  puts 
man  beyond  the  pale  of  change — Extraordinary  text  of  Scripture — 
Much  learning  exhibited  in  discussing  it — Several  opinions  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  text  in  question — None  of  them  correct — A  necessary 
rule  to  be  observed  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture — The  word  of 
God  not  contradictory — The  impropriety  of  deducing  doctrines  with- 
out sufficient  discrimination  from  isolated  texts — Scripture  to  be  com- 
pared with  Scripture — True  love  to  man  proceeds  from  love  to  God. 

Having  in  the  last  chapter  upon  the  *' Doctrine  of 
Hades'^  examined  and  explained  three  of  those  passages 
of  Scripture  which  have  been  advanced  by  the  Romanists 
for  establishing  the  dogma  of  purgatory,  I  shall  pass  on 
to  notice  very  briefly  the  fourth  text,  which  they  consider 
highly  favorable  to  their  opinions  respecting  the  condi- 
tion of  departed  souls.  It  is  written  in  St.  Matthew^s 
Gospel  (v.  26),  in  these  words:  ''Yerily  I  say  unto  thee, 
Thou  shalt  by  no  means  come  out  thence,,  till  thou  hast 
paid  the  uttermost  farthing."  In  the  preceding  verse  of 
the  same  chapter  our  Lord  is  giving  counsel  to  such  as 
are  engaged  in  lawsuits,  and  in  order  to  be  reconciled,  as 
well  as  to  avoid  consequences,  He  advises  the  debtor  to 
make  friends  with  his  creditor,  or  the  one  who  is  bring- 
ing him  to  justice.  In  verse  25  He  says :  "Agree  with 
thine  adversary  quickly,  whilst  thou  art  in  the  way  with 
him ;  lest  at  any  time  the  adversary  deliver  thee  to  the 
judge,  and  the  judge  deliver  thee  to  the  officer,  and  thou 
be  cast  into  prison."  Here  we  see  the  defendant  is 
strongly  urged  to  settle  his  affairs  with  the  plaintiff 
while  they  are  on  the  way — that  is,  while  they  are  going 
to  the  court  of  justice,  so  that  no  trial  may  be  necessary, 
and  that  the  former  may  be  dismissed  and  escape  the  im- 

(t5) 


76  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

pending  danger  of  being  cast  into  prison.  We  shall  best 
succeed  in  explaining  this  passage  by  supposing  that  a 
certain  man  owed  his  neighbor  a  sum  of  money,  and  the 
latter,  finding  he  could  not  get  payment  after  several 
times  requesting  the  same,  at  last  insisted  that,  if  the  debt 
was  not  liquidated  within  a  certain  time,  the  offender 
should  be  imprisoned  till  the  money  was  paid.  If  the 
defendant  has  the  requisite  means  to  pay  the  bill,  he  will 
undoubtedly  do  so,  to  avoid  the  consequences.  Suppos- 
ing, however,  the  poor  debtor  has  not  wherewithal  to  pay, 
and  the  only  income  he  has  or  can  expect  depends  entirely 
upon  his  own  exertions.  What  then?  In  such  a  case, 
what  can  his  creditor  expect  by  casting  him  into  prison  ? 
Perhaps  he  fancies  that  the  debtor's  friends  will  come  for- 
ward on  his  behalf  and  settle  the  amount ;  and,  in  an 
earthly  point  of  view,  this  may  sometimes  happen  to  be 
the  case.  Let  us  note  further  that  our  Lord  says:  ^'  If 
the  man  be  cast  into  prison,  he  shall  not  come  out  of  the 
dungeon  until  he  has  paid  the  uttermost  farthing.''  Now, 
if  this  debtor  has  not  the  money  to  pay  his  creditor's 
bill,  no  income  except  what  depends  upon  his  own  exer- 
tions, no  friend  to  become  his  substitute  in  liquidating  the 
debt,  and,  in  consequence  of  this  inability,  he  be  cast  into 
prison  to  remain  therein  till  the  uttermost  farthing  be 
paid,  what  is  the  legitimate  conclusion  ?  The  conclusion 
is  that  the  debtor  can  never  come  out  of  prison.  Our 
Lord  does  not  say  that  the  offender  shall  not  come  out  of 
prison  till  the  debt  shall  have  been  paid,  or  till  friends 
have  liquidated  it;  but  He  asserts  that  the  debtor  must 
pay  the  amount  /izmseZ/;  thus  :  *'  Yerily  I  say  unto  thee, 
Thou  shalt  by  no  means  come  out  thence  till  thou  hast 
paid  the  uttermost  farthing."  We  see,  then,  the  debt 
must  be  paid  not  by  friends,  not  by  relations,  not  by  any 
individual  whatever,  but  by  the  debtor  himself,  who  can 
never  so  much  as  hope  to  settle  the  matter,  because  the 
adversary  has  put  it  entirely  beyond  his  power.  To  pass 
from  an  earthly  to  a  spiritual  meaning,  which  is  the  one 
principally  intended,  we  may  observe  that  the  words  to 
"  agree  with  our  adversai^y  quickhf  are  intended  to 
urge  upon  us  the  necessity  of  making  our  peace  with  God 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  1*J 

while  on  this  side  the  gra,ve,  and  to  lose  no  time  about  it, 
as  death  may  seize  us  at  any  moment ;  because  if  the 
debt  has  not  been  paid  while  we  are  on  our  way — that 
is,  while  passing  through  our  probationary  state  in  this 
world — we  shall  be  delivered  at  death  to  the  Judge,  who 
will  consign  us  into  the  hands  of  the  executioner,  and  we 
shall  be  cast  into  the  prison  of  the  lost  until  the  debt  be 
paid,  and  it  will  require  no  less  than  eternity  itself  to 
liquidate  it.  The  words  plainly  and  solemnly  teach  that 
the  man  who  is  not  reconciled  to  God  before  his  death 
will  never  be  reconciled  to  Him  after  his  death.  And 
therefore  these  words  of  our  Lord,  which  have  been 
brought  forward  to  encourage  a  belief  in  purgatory,  ab- 
solutely destroy  the  doctrine  ;  for  our  Savior's  words  evi- 
dently imply  that,  if  the  matter  is  not  amicably  settled 
while  the  plaintiff  and  defendant  are  on  their  way  to  the 
Judge,  a  verdict  will  be  given  for  the  former  and  the 
latter  must  be  consigned  to  prison.  If  the  case  once 
come  into  court  and  be  submitted  to  the  Judge,  the  con- 
demnation and  imprisonment  of  the  defendant  are  certain. 
He  has  allowed  matters  to  go  too  far ;  his  fate  is  sealed. 
Death  has  put  him  beyond  the  pale  of  change. 

I  now  pass  on  to  consider  the  text,  which  of  all  others 
may  be  pronounced  the  most  extraordinary ;  and  cer- 
tainly it  is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  and  difficult  to  be 
dealt  with  in  the  whole  of  Revelation.  Its  difficulty  and 
importance  may,  to  some  extent,  be  imagined,  when  it  is 
borne  in  mind  that  both  the  ancient  and  modern  commen- 
tators and  theologians  have  written  so  much  upon  it  that 
their  productions  would  be  sufficient  to  make  a  moderate- 
sized  library,  and,  notwithstanding  all  this  learning  and 
erudition,  the  passage  is  still  involved  in  much  obscurity; 
and  the  solution  which  I  shall  propose  will,  if  I  do  not 
mistake,  differ  entirely  from  the  expositions  of  any  of  those 
that  have  hitherto  written  on  the  subject.  Even  some 
well-educated  people  think  that  this  portion  of  Scripture 
is  altogether  beyond  explanation  ;  but,  for  my  own  part, 
I  must  say  that  I  am  very  far  from  entertaining  any  such 
notion.  Let  my  readers  weigh  carefully  what  is  to  be 
submitted  to  their  notice,  and  then  let  them  draw  their 


78  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

own  inferences.  The  text  is  written  in  the  First  Epistle 
of  St.  Peter  (iii.  19),  where  the  sacred  narrative  thus 
reads  :  *'  By  which  also  He  went  and  preached  to  the 
spirits  in  prison." 

There  are  no  fewer  than  five  interpretations  of  this 
passage,  every  one  of  which  has  many  able  advocates. 
The  first  considers  the  ''  spirits  in  prison"  as  meaning 
the  happy  souls  of  *'  Paradise,"  into  which  our  Lord  and 
the  penitent  malefactor  are  supposed  to  have  gone  after 
expiring  on  the  cross.  The  second,  as  denoting  the  lost 
souls  in  hell  to  whom  Christ  preached  after  His  crucifix- 
ion. The  third  regards  the  "■  spirits  in  prison"  as  refer- 
ring to  the  Gentiles  who  were  in  bondage  to  pagan  vices, 
and  to  whom  our  Lord  preached,  not  in  prison,  but  by 
His  apostles.  The  fourth,  as  referring  to  the  antedilu- 
vians to  whom  Christ  preached  by  Noah,  while  they  were 
in  this  world,  but  whose  spirits  are  now  chained  in  prison. 
The  fifth  interpretation  is  the  one  maintained  by  the 
Romish  Church  in  support  of  purgatory.  We  shall  now 
briefly  consider  these  different  views  and  see  how  far  they 
agree  with  Revelation  ;  but,  before  doing  so,  I  must  be 
permitted  to  lay  down  this  canon,  namely:  The  interpre- 
tation of  any  single  passage  of  Scripture,  which  contra- 
dicts the  general  tenor  of  the  Bible,  cannot  he  admitted 
as  the  correct  interpretation. 

The  neglecting  of  this  very  essential  rule  has  laid  the 
foundation  of  many  differences  and  numerous  controver- 
sies among  professing  Christians.  We  have  no  more 
grounds  for  thinking  that  the  Bible  teaches  opposing  doc- 
trines than  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  God  is  capable 
of  contradicting  Himself.  If  we  accustom  ourselves  to 
select  merely  isolated  texts  of  Scripture,  for  the  purpose 
of  drawing  certain  conclusions  therefrom,  we  shall  find  in 
the  end  that  we  have  grievously  failed  to  get  the  mind 
of  the  Spirit.  No  such  procedure  will  ever  enable  a  man 
to  arrive  at  the  truth.  Every  text,  and  particularly  one 
containing  a  prominent  doctrine,  must  be  measured  and 
weighed  by  the  standard  or  general  tenor  of  God's  word; 
otherwise  it  is  almost  impossible  to  escape  both  confusion 
and  error.     In  order  to  establish  the  soundness  of  our 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  ^^ 

views  on  this  point,  we  need  only  refer  to  our  Lord's 
words  as  recorded  by  St.  Luke  (xiv.  26)  :  ''  If,  saith  He, 
any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father,  and  mother, 
and  wife,  and  children,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and 
his  own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  Now,  sup- 
pose we  were  to  take  this  single  text  as  it  stands  in  St. 
Luke's  Gospel,  without  any  reference  to  other  passages 
bearing  on  the  same  subject,  and  begin  to  proclaim  to  our 
fellow-creatures  that  the  first  essential  step  toward  any 
one  becoming  a  real  Christian,  is  to  destroy  all  natural 
affection  toward  those  relatives  who  are  near  and  dear  to 
him  ;  what  a  monstrous  doctrine  would  this  be,  and  how 
preposterous  and  shocking  to  contemplate,  especially 
under  the  sacred  name  of  Religion !  The  very  thought 
of  any  man  so  treating  his  father  and  mother,  brothers  and 
sisters,  in  order  to  become  a  follower  of  Jesus,  is  revolting 
and  painful  in  the  extreme  ;  but  if  we  carry  out  our  rule 
as  laid  down  above,  and  refer  to  the  parallel  text  in  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel  (x.  3*7),  we  learn  the  true  meaning  of 
the  text  in  St.  Luke.  The  words  in  St.  Matthew  are  :  "•  He 
that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me  is  not  worthy 
of  me."  We  plainly  see  that  the  doctrine  inculcated  in  the 
two  texts  is,  that  our  Blessed  Lord  must  occupy  the  first 
place  in  our  affections.  Indeed,  the  more  we  love  God, 
the  more  we  shall  love  our  brethren,  and  thereby  fulfill  the 
Divine  command,  which  is  to  love  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves. Love  to  man  must  spring  from  love  to  God,  or  it 
can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  pure  or  unselfish. 


CHAPTER    X. 

The  view  which  regards  the  ^'  spirits  in  prison"  as  the  happy  souls  in 
Paradise  cannot  be  true — Our  Lord  did  not  go  to  heaven  between  His 
death  and  resurrection — Otherwise  He  ascended  into  heaven  twice 
during  His  sojourn  on  the  earth— No  one  can  be  ascending  into  heaven 
while  he  is  descending  into  hell — No  amount  of  sophistry  can  prove 
heaven  and  hell  to  be  identical — The  great  work  of  Redemption  not 
completed  on  the  cross — The  twofold  character  of  Christ — His  human- 
ity— His  Grodhead — Christ  addressed  as  God  by  the  penitent  thief — Our 
Lord's  omnipresence — His  ubiquity  set  forth  in  Psalm  139 — Christ  a 
substitute  for  man — Jesus  could  not  be  regarded  simply  as  a  man  by 
the  penitent  malefactor — The  second  interpretation  incorrect — The 
third  and  fourth  views  untenable — The  fifth  interpretation  insisted 
upon  by  the  Romish  Church — The  errors  into  which  the  commentators 
so  generally  fall. 

The  first  of  these  views,  which  regards  the  "  spirits  in 
prison'^  as  referring  to  the  happy  souls  in  Paradise,  can- 
not by  any  possibility  be  correct,  unless  we  are  prepared 
to  admit,  with  some  theologians,  that  our  Lord,  in  His 
human  spiritual  personality,  went  into  Paradise  after  His 
death,  and  remained  there  till  the  time  of  His  resur- 
rection. Some  understand  *'  Paradise"  to  mean  heaven 
itself,  and,  consequently,  all  those  that  hold  the  previous 
opinion  must  believe  that  our  Lord,  after  giving  up  the 
ghost,  went  directly  to  heaven.  If  this  view  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  correct,  our  Redeemer  must  have  ascended  into 
heaven  twice  during  His  sojourn  on  earth ;  once  in  His 
body,  and  once  out  of  His  body;  which  is  not  very  likely, 
nor  do  I  know  any  portion  of  Scripture  that  will  warrant 
us  in  believing  any  such  thing.  We  have  one  Ascension 
clearly  marked  out,  but  certainly  not  more.  Again,  in 
the  Apostles'  Creed  we  express  our  belief  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried;  that  He  de- 
scended into  hell,  and  the  third  day  He  rose  again  from 
the  dead ;  and  that  He  ascended  into  heaven.  Now,  if 
(80) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  81 

the  word  "  Paradise,"  as  many  think,  denotes  heaven 
properly  so  called,  and  our  Lord  ascended  into  it  imme- 
diately after  death,  He  certainly  did  not  descend  into  hell ; 
unless  ascending  into  heaven  and  descending  into  hell 
are  to  be  considered  as  identical  in  signification.  .  One  of 
these  statements  must  of  necessity  be  untrue.  No  amount 
of  sophistry  can  make  one  believe  that  heaven  is  hell,  and 
that  while  a  man  is  in  the  very  act  of  ascending  into  the 
former  he  is  actually  descending  into  the  latter.  It  is 
perfectly  true  that  our  Lord,  in  His  spiritual  personality, 
did  not  go  into  Paradise  between  His  death  and  His  resur- 
rection ;  for  had  He  done  so,  the  great  work  of  hum^n 
redemption  must  have  been  finished  when  He  expired  on 
the  cross,  which  we  know  could  not  have  been  the  case. 
The  belief  that  our  Lord  went  into  heaven  or  Paradise  is 
based  upon  a  passage  written  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke 
(xxiii.  42,  43),  where  we  read  that  the  dying  malefactor 
said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou  comesi 
into  Thy  kingdom ;  and  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily  I 
say  unto  thee,  To-day  shall  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise. 
For  a  right  understanding  of  these  two  verses,  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  the  penitent  malefactor  set  forth  the 
twofold  nature  of  Christ,  and  therefore  our  duty  is  not  to 
lose  sight  of  this  great  fact.  In  saying  to  the  other  cul- 
prit. This  man  hath  done  nothing  amiss,  the  penitent  thief 
thereby  acknowledged  Christ's  humanity  ;  but  in  saying 
unto  Jesus,  *'  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou  comest 
into  Thy  kingdom, '^  he  unquestionably  recognized  and 
acknowledged  the  Godhead  of  Christ. 

Now,  since  the  dying  penitent  had  sufficient  discrimi- 
nation to  perceive  the  twofold  nature  of  Christ,  the  ques- 
tion thence  arising  is  simply  this:  Did  he  address  the 
Redeemer  in  the  capacity  of  a  man,  or  did  he  regard  Him 
as  God'^  The  answer  given  by  Christ  to  the  penitent 
thief  must  be  of  the  same  nature  as  the  request  made  by 
the  suppliant.  The  helpless  culprit  spake  to  Jesus  as 
the  Supreme  God,  and  he  was  answered  by  Jesus  as  the 
Supreme  God.  The  manhood  of  Christ  is  not  to  be 
thought  of  either  in  the  request  made  or  in  the  answer 

6 


82  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

given.  The  words  ''with  me"  are  to  be  understood  as 
referring  exclusively  to  the  Redeemer  in  His  Divine  char- 
acter. Christ  as  man  was  in  the  dark  side  of  Hades,  and 
therefore  in  the  locality  of  the  impenitent  thief.  The 
meaning,  therefore,  of  the  promise  made  by  Christ  to  the 
suppliant  was  that  the  soul  of  the  penitent  malefactor,  on 
its  release  from  the  body,  should  be  in  Paradise  among 
the  blessed,  or  in  the  happy  part  of  Hades,  enjoying  union 
with  Jesus  as  the  Omnipresent  God,  We  find  this  omni- 
presence of  God  or  Christ  set  forth  in  a  most  sublime 
manner  in  Psalm  cxxxix.  Y-12,  where  we  thus  read  : 
''Whither  shall  I  go  from  Thy  spirit?  or  whither  shall  I 
flee  from  Thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven, 
Thou  art  there  ;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  Hades,  behold,  Thou 
art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell 
in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea ;  even  there  shall  Thy 
hand  lead  me,  and  Thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me.  If  I 
say,  Surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me  ;  even  the  night 
shall  be  light  about  me.  Yea,  the  darkness  hideth  not 
from  Thee  ;  but  the  night  shineth  as  the  day  :  the  dark- 
ness and  the  light  are  both  alike  to  Thee."  It  must  be 
further  impressed  upon  our  minds,  that  the  penitent  thief 
quitted  this  world  in  a  forgiven  state,  and  therefore  he 
was  entitled  to  go  into  a  place  of  happiness;  but  the  case 
was  otherwise  with  Christ,  who,  being  a  substitute  for 
sinful  man  J  died  as  it  were  in  an  unf or  given  state,  and 
consequently  He  had  to  suffer  for  a  specified  time,  in 
the  other  world,  that  measure  of  punishment  allotted  by 
Divine  justice  to  sinful  man.  It  is  quite  beyond  the 
question  to  suppose  that  the  penitent  malefactor  regarded 
Christ  simply  as  a  man  ;  for  he  must  have  felt  perfectly 
convinced  in  his  own  mind  that  He,  who  was  nailed  with 
him  to  the  cross,  could  be  of  no  service  whatever  to  him, 
unless  He  were  more  than  human.  The  whole  narrative 
demonstrates,  beyond  all  contradiction,  that  that  dying 
thief  most  firmly  believed  not  only  in  the  humanity,  but 
also  in  the  Deity  of  Christ,  and  therefore  he  cast  himself 
entirely  upon  Him  for  pardon  and  salvation.  Taking  this 
view  of  the  conversation  which  transpired  between  our 
Saviour  and  the  penitent  thief,  we  can  very  well  under- 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  83 

Stand  why  he  said,  ''  Lord,  remember  me  when  Thou 
comest  into  Thy  kingdom.'' 

We  cannot  admit  the  second  interpretation,  because  hell 
is  the  place  prepared  for  the  damned  after  the  day  of 
judgment  (Matt.  xxv.  41),  and  therefore  neither  Christ  nor 
the  lost  spirits  could  have  been  in  that  region.  The  third 
and  fourth  views  appear  untenable  upon  two  grounds — 
first,  because  what  our  Lord  is  said  to  have  done  was 
effected  in  His  own  person,  and  therefore  it  could  not  have 
been  accomplished  either  by  Noah  or  any  other  prophet; 
and  secondly,  Christ  was  in  His  disembodied  state  (L 
Peter  iii.  19),  and  so  were  the  spirits  among  whom  He 
was  placed,  and  consequently  the  event  happened  between 
His  crucifixion  and  His  resurrection. 

Having,  I  trust,  fairly  and  satisfactorily  disposed  of  four 
of  the  opinions  respecting  the  import  of  the  text  which 
represents  Christ  as  preaching  to  the  **  spirits  in  prison," 
I  shall  now  investigate  the  fifth  interpretation,  which  is 
maintained  by  the  Romish  Church  in  support  of  the  doc- 
trine of  purgatory.  Let  us,  then,  proceed  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  the  text  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  Peter  is  actually 
designed  to  teach  that  there  is  such  a  locality  as  a  purga- 
torial region,  in  which  sins  are  remitted  and  souls  purified  : 
we  are  bound  by  such  assumption  to  make  admissions 
which  are  by  no  means  sanctioned  by  Scripture  ;  and  on 
a  subject  of  such  vital  importance  we  must  not  depend 
upon  opinions,  but  on  the  living  oracles  of  God.  The 
great  mistake  into  which  the  commentators  on  this  text 
appear  to  have  fallen,  is  in  considering  it  separately,  and 
without  reference  to  the  general  tenor  of  the  Bible.  We 
have  already  shown  that  this  system  of  interpretation  is 
very  unsafe,  and  sure  to  lead  to  the  most  erroneous  con- 
clusions. 


CHAPTER  XL 

If  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  be  true,  certain  conclusions  follow — The 
first  inference,  There  are  two  states  of  probation — Second  inference, 
The  insufiiciency  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ — Third  inference.  Human 
sufi'ering  required  to  supplementalize  the  sacrifice  of  Christ — Fourth 
inference,  The  disease  greater  than  the  intended  remedy — The  fifth  in- 
ference, Christ's  merits  exceeded  by  the  demerits  of  Adam — The  sixth 
inference,  Moral  virtue  produced  by  the  confinement  of  a  wicked  soul 
in  prison — The  seventh  inference.  Scripture  forbids  sin,  and  still  en- 
courages man  to  persist  in  it — The  eighth  inference,  Our  Lord's  words 
of  warning  deprived  of  their  efiicacy — The  ninth  inference.  Prayer 
oifered  by  the  living  on  behalf  of  the  dead  effectual  in  the  sight  of 
God — The  tenth  inference,  Man  justified  by  works  rather  than  of 
faith — The  first  inference  proved  to  be  unscriptural — God  delighteth 
in  mercy — Second  commandment — Purgatory  should  be  rejected  on 
the  ground  of  mercy — The  degree  of  punishment  inflicted  ought  to  be 
in  exact  proportion  to  the  sin  committed — Scripture  proofs — If  men 
are  not  pardoned  here,  there  is  no  hope  for  them  hereafter — Death 
changes  a  man's  condition,  but  not  his  nature — Two  states  of  proba- 
tion incompatible  with  the  tender  mercy  of  the  Lord — The  antedilu- 
vians, their  wickedness,  and  its  consequences — No  other  nations  to 
be  condemned  by  them — Why  not — Why  God  shortened  their  days — 
The  people  of  Nineveh  shall  rise  in  the  judgment  against  the  Jews 
of  our  Lord's  day — One  servant  to  be  beaten  with  many  stripes, 
another  with  few — The  reason  assigned  for  this  distinction. 

If  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  be  true,  there  is  no  es- 
caping from  the  following  inferences  : — 

1.  That  there  are  two  states  of  probation ;  one  upon 
the  earth,  and  another  in  the  next  world. 

2.  That  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  is  of  itself  insufficient  to 
make  a  complete  atonement  for  human  transgression. 

3.  That  human  suffering  in  its  disembodied  state  is 
essential  to  supplementalize  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ. 

4.  That  the  consequences  of  Adam^s  disobedience  were 
of  greater  magnitude  than  the  effects  of  the  remedy  pro- 
vided by  the  obedience  of  Christ. 

5.  That  the  demerits  of  Adam  exceed  the  merits  of 
Christ. 

(84) 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  85 

6.  That  the  confinemont  of  an  obstinate  sinner  in 
prison  and  the  positive  infliction  of  punishment,  will  pro- 
duce in  him  genuine  repentance,  and  inculcate  the  princi- 
ples of  moral  virtue  and  love. 

t.  That  Scripture  forbids  man  to  commit  sin,  and  yet 
encourages  him  to  persist  therein. 

8.  That  the  words  which  our  Lord  addressed  to  His 
followers,  to  the  effect  that  unless  thej  repented  they 
should  die  in  their  sins,  are  deprived  of  their  weight  and 
solemn  significance. 

9.  That  prayers  offered  by  the  living  on  behalf  of  the 
dead  are  effectual  in  the  sight  of  God. 

10.  That  justification  is  the  result  of  works  rather  than 
of  faith. 

The  first  of  these  inferences  must  certainly  be  rejected, 
for  the  contrary  doctrine  is  everywhere  taught  in  Scrip- 
ture, and  inculcated  for  the  most  substantial  of  all  reasons. 
We  are  sure  that  God  is  pre-eminently  a  God  of  mercy, 
and  that  He  has  at  all  times  peculiar  pleasure  in  the  exer- 
cise of  that  Divine  attribute.  So  saith  the  Prophet  Mi- 
cah  (vii.  18)  in  these  words:  *' Who  is  a  God  like  unto 
Thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity  and  passeth  by  the  trans- 
gression of  the  remnant  of  His  heritage  ?  He  retaineth 
not  His  anger  forever,  because  He  delighteth  in  mercy." 
Yes,  all  the  attributes  of  the  Divine  Being  in  His  deal- 
ings with  fallen  man  appear  to  have  been  made  sub- 
servient to  that  of  mercy.  We  have  a  remarkable  exhibi- 
tion of  this  great  truth  in  the  second  commandment  of  the 
Decalogue.  By  that  commandment  we  learn  that  God 
^'visits  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  unto  the 
third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  Him  ;  but 
shows  mercy  unto  thousands  in  them  that  love  Him  and 
keep  His  commandments.'^  Where  can  we  find  a  more 
striking  contrast  than  that  which  is  set  forth  in  this  Di- 
vine injunction?  By  this  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  descendants  unto  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion, we  seem  to  be  taught  the  great  consoling  truth  that 
the  Almighty  will  not  inflict  one  iota  of  punishment  be- 
yond what  the  necessities  of  the  case  actually  demand  ; 
while   His   mercy  is  boundless,  because  it  extends  not 


86  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

merely  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  but  unto  thou- 
sands of  generations  in  them  that  love  and  obey  Him  I 
The  inspired  writer  (Ps.  cxviii.  1)  may  well  exhort  his 
readers,  saying,  ''  O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord;  for  He 
is  good:  because  His  mercy  endureth  forever.'^ 

Now,  we  hesitate  not  to  assert  that  two  states  of  pro- 
bation are  incompatible  with  the  mercy  of  God,  and  there- 
fore one  of  them  ought  to  be  excluded  from  His  moral 
government  and  terms  of  forgiveness,  and  that,  too,  for 
reasons  the  most  obvious.  In  order,  then,  to  establish 
this  view,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that,  upon  the 
principles  of  justice,  there  must  ever  be  an  exact  ratio  or 
just  proportion  between  the  offense  committed  and  the 
degree  of  punishment  inflicted;  and,  therefore,  the  fewer 
a  man's  sins  are,  the  less  punishment  he  will  have  to  un- 
dergo. This  doctrine  accords  with  all  our  notions  of  jus- 
tice, and  is  that  which  we  find  taught  in  various  parts  of 
the  Bible,  and  notably  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  (xvi. 
2t),  where  we  have  these  words:  'Tor  the  Son  of  man 
shall  come  in  the  glory  of  His  Father,  with  His  angels, 
and  then  He  shall  reward  every  man  according  to  his 
works."  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (xvii.  81)  it  is  also 
declared  that  **  God  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which 
He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  that  man 
whom  He  hath  ordained,  whereof  He  hath  given  assur- 
ance unto  all  men  in  that  Ha  hath  raised  Him  from  the 
dead."  From  our  previous  remarks  and  the  two  passages 
of  Scripture  here  quoted,  it  is  manifest  that  the  longer  a 
man  is  allowed  to  continue  in  a  state  of  probation  and  to 
persist  in  a  sinful  course,  the  greater  will  be  his  punish- 
ment at  the  day  of  judgment.  Let  us  suppose,  for  exam- 
ple, that  an  impenitent  sinner,  through  his  own  evil  heart 
of  unbelief,  has  failed  to  obtain  pardon  during  the  first 
state  of  probation,  and  enters  upon  his  second  proba- 
tionary^ state  in  an  unpardoned  condition,  and  conse- 
quently under  the  curse  of  an  angry  God:  what  grounds 
have  we  for  presuming  that  he  will,  in  the  next  world, 
accept  those  offers  of  Divine  grace  which  he  spurned  and 
rejected  here  ?  Reasoning  analogically  upon  this  subject, 
should  we  not  rather  conclude  that,  instead  of  changing 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  87 


for  the  better,  he  would  in  all  probability  become  more 
hardened  and  in  every  respect  more  degenerate  ?  If,  then, 
no  reformation  actually  take  place  in  him  during  his 
second  state  of  trial,  his  guilt  is  only  deepened  in  the 
sight  of  God,  and  his  punishment  infinitely  magnified, 
because  of  his  having  neglected  repentance  and  faith 
throughout  two  states  of  probation.  In  fact,  the  length- 
ened period  of  time  granted  to  him  hardens  his  nature, 
and  furnishes  him  with  opportunities  for  treasuring  up 
unto  himself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath  (Rom.  ii.  5). 
Unless  there  was  an  absolute  certainty  that  the  second 
period  of  trial  would  accomplish  that  desirable  change  in 
a  man  which  the  first  state  of  probation  had  failed  to 
effect,  it  is  obvious  to  the  most  superficial  thinker,  that 
the  offender  would  be  far  better  without  a  second  state  of 
probation. 

The  question  now  suggesting  itself  is  this :  Does  death 
in  itself  possess  any  special  feature  calculated  to  produce 
a  beneficial  change  in  man  ?  We  say,  without, the  fear  of 
contradiction,  that  death  does  not  effect  any  favorable 
alteration,  because  its  very  essence,  as  we  have  already 
shown,  consists  in  severance  or  separation.  Death  is 
neither  more  nor  less  than  the  distinctive  separation  of 
an  immortal  soul  from  a  mortal  body,  and  therefore  the 
condition  of  the  individual,  but  not  his  nature,  is  changed. 
In  a  word,  a  man's  condition  is  changed  by  death,  but  his 
nature  remains  the  same.  Hence  the  man  who  dies  in 
sin  continues  in  that  condition,  and  therefore  we  say  with 
the  preacher  (Eccles.  xi.  3),  *'  In  the  place  where  the  tree 
falleth,  there  it  shall  be."  We  assert  then  that  the  mercy 
of  God  is  more  signally  displayed  toward  sinful  man,  by 
permitting  him  to  have  only  one  state  of  probation  ;  and 
in  the  event  of  there  being  no  prospect  of  his  ceasing  to 
do  evil  and  learning  to  do  well,  the  shorter  that  period  is, 
the  better  it  must  be  for  the  sinner.  We  have  it  on 
Divine  record,  that  there  was  a  time  when  men  lived  to 
be  nearly  a  thousand  years  old,  but  the  result  was,  that 
they  trampled  beneath  their  feet  all  laws,  whether  human 
or  Divine,  and  filled  the  whole  earth  with  rapine  and 
murder.     God,  therefore,  out  of  mercy  to  mankind,  short- 


88  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

eiied  their  days,  and,  in  shortening  their  days,  dimin- 
ished the  punishment  of  the  wicked  in  the  world  to  come. 
In  consequence  of  these  antediluvians  having  lived  so 
many  years  upon  the  earth,  they  became  such  monsters 
of  iniquity  and  such  notorious  sinners,  that  they  have 
never  been  equaled  by  any  succeeding  generation  of  men. 
Though  we  learn  from  our  Lord's  own  words  that  the 
men  of  Nineveh  shall  rise  in  judgment  with  the  Jewish 
people  who  were  alive  during  His  sojourn  on  earth,  and 
shall  condemn  them,  because  they  repented  at  the  preach- 
ing of  Jonas,  but  the  Jews  did  not  repent  when  a  greater 
than  Jonas  was  among  them  (Matt.  xii.  41)  ;  yet  it  is 
never  stated  in  the  New  Testament  that  the  antediluvians 
shall  rise  in  judgment  and  condemn  other  nations,  and  for 
this  very  reason,  because  their  sins,  in  consequence  of 
their  longevity,  were  far  more  in  number  and  of  a  deeper 
dye  than  those  of  the  rest  of  mankind.  Their  sins  were 
greater,  and  consequently  their  punishment,  upon  the 
ground  of  justice,  must  and  will  be  proportionately  severe. 
In  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  (xii.  4 1,  48)  it  is  thus  written : 
''And  that  servant  which  knew  his  lord's  will,  and  pre- 
pared not  himself,  neither  did  according  to  his  will,  shall 
be  beaten  with  many  stripes.  But  he  that  knew  not,  and 
did  commit  things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with 
few  stripes.  For  unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him 
shall  be  much  required;  and  to  whom  men  have  com- 
mitted much,  of  him  they  will  ask  the  more."  I  trust 
that  I  have  now  sufficiently  answered  the  first  unavoid- 
able inference  from  the  admission  of  the  doctrine  of 
purgatory. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

The  sacrifice  of  Christ  more  than  sufiicient  to  make  atonement  for  human 
transgression — Proofs  from  Scripture — The  atonement  proved  by  the 
resurrection  of  Christ — Scripture  proofs — The  Communion  Service  in 
reference  to  the  satisfaction  made  by  the  blood  of  Christ — If  men  are 
purified  in  some  purgatorial  region,  they  must  leave  this  world  neither 
in  a  state  of  justification  nor  condemnation — If  the  best  of  men  suffer 
in  purgatory,  why  did  the  penitent  thief  escape  that  place  of  punish- 
ment?— Scripture  recognizes  only  two  classes — Proofs  adduced  from 
the  Bible — The  consequences  of  Adam's  transgression  and  the  effects 
of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  compared — Adam  only  a  man — Christ  both 
God  and  man — Confinement  in  prison  may  deter  from  the  commission 
of  crime,  but  can  never  produce  moral  virtue  and  love — God's  means 
of  bringing  men  to  salvation  are  kind  and  persuasive — Purgatory  a 
region  of  punishment — Very  few  instances,  if  any,  of  a  man's  being 
morally  improved  by  incarceration. 

According  to  the  second  inference,  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  was  insufficient  to  make  a  complete  atonement  for 
human  transgression.  What  saith  Scripture  on  this  point  ? 
In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (iv.  12)  it  is  expressly  declared 
that  we  have  salvation  in  Jesus  only:  "  For  there  is  no 
other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved."  In  St.  John's  Gospel  (iii.  16)  we  read: 
*'  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  belie veth  in  Him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life."  St.  Paul  asserts,  in  his  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  (iv.  25),  that  *'  Christ  was  delivered  for 
our  offenses,  and  was  raised  again  for  our  justification ;" 
and  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (x.  26)  it  is  thus  writ- 
ten :  ''  For  if  we  sin  willfully  after  that  we  have  received 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more 
sacrifice  for  sins."  It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  texts  of 
Scripture  to  show -the  all-sufficiency  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  to  atone  for  our  sins,  but  these  which  we  have  here 
produced  afford  evidence  in  abundance.    We  may  never- 

(89) 


90  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES, 

theless  observe  that  if  our  Blessed  Lord  had  not  made,  by 
His  atoning  death,  the  most  ample  satisfaction  for  man's 
guilt.  He  could  not  have  risen  from  the  dead.  His  resur- 
rection from  the  dead  must  ever  be  regarded  as  the  clearest 
proof  that  He  paid  the  full  penalty  of  God's  violated  law. 
Upon  this  great  truth  depends  the  resurrection  of  all  men. 
Hence,  in  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  St.  Paul 
saith  (XV.  2 1,  22),  "  For  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man 
came  also  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam 
all  died,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."  And 
lastly,  our  Church  declares  in  her  Communion  Service 
that  Christ  '*  made  by  His  one  oblation  of  Himself  once 
offered,  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and 
satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world." 

Touching  the  third  inference,  that  human  suffering  in 
its  disembodied  state  is  required  to  supplementalize  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ,  we  may  observe  that,  if  this  doctrine 
be  true,  men  leave  the  present  world  in  what  may  be 
termed  an  intermediate  state  or  condition  ;  that  is,  they 
are  at  the  time  of  death,  strictly  speaking,  neither  in  a 
state  of  justification  nor  condemnation.  A  protracted 
period  of  time  is  required  to  determine  whether  they  are 
to  be  finally  condemned  or  finally  saved.  Where  is  such 
a  doctrine  as  this  to  be  found  in  the  Bible  ?  If  the  best 
men  are  compelled  to  enter  the  purgatorial  region  for  the 
purpose  of  being  cleansed  from  some  slight  stains  of  guilt, 
which  are  supposed  not  to  merit  eternal  damnation,  how 
came  it  to  pass  that  the  penitent  thief  did  not  go  there  ? 
Surely,  if  a  good  man  is  obliged  to  pass  through  a  penal 
ordeal  after  death,  as  a  sort  of  preparation  for  heaven, 
that  dying  malefactor,  who  repented  only  at  the  last  hour, 
ought  not  to  have  been  an  exception.  That  the  penitent 
thief  never  entered  into  any  place  of  punishment,  is  mani- 
fest from  the  words  of  our  Divine  Redeemer,  who  declared 
to  him,  in  the  plainest  language  imaginable,  that  he  should 
be  even  that  day  with  Him  in  Paradise.  Scripture  recog- 
nizes two  classes,  and  only  two, — the  good  and  the  bad 
— the  lost  and  the  saved — the  ju^t  and  the  unjust — the 
sheep  and  the  goats.  There  is  no  such  thing  in  the  sight 
of  God  as  a  man  half  pardoned  and  half  condemned — half 


U^SE 


..'' 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  MADEEj  y  t^T  ^        v^t 


lost  and  half  saved.     In  the  Gospel  of  St.  S^0..j^,m)  ^^Ty 
our  Lord's  words  are  these  ;  ''  Marvel  not  attni^j"  for  the  ^fk 
hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  giuves  '_j_£^^^ 
shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth  ;  they  that  have  "^ 
done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that 
have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damnation." 

If  the  fourth  inference  be  true,  then  the  consequences  of 
Adam's  disobedience  far  exceeded  the  effects  of  the  remedy 
provided  in  the  obedience  of  Christ ;  but  we  know  that 
such  is  not  the  case,  and  that  the  contrary  is  the  truth. 
St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (v.  19),  thus  speaks: 
wcTTzep  yap  did  r/jq  TrapaxoTJ^  rod  ivog  rhOpcoTroo  d/xaprwXo). 
xaTS(7Tddr](Ta'^  ol  ttoXXo),  outoj  xal  dcd  t^<;  oitaxor^q  too  ivog 
dUaun  xaTa(TTad7](jovTat  ol  ttoXXoi.  '^  For  as  through  the  dis- 
obedience of  the  one  man  the  many  were  constituted  sin- 
ners ;  so  also  through  the  obedience  of  the  one  (man) 
the  many  shall  be  constituted  righteous. '*  From  the  fifth 
chapter  of  this  Epistle,  and  especially  from  verses  12,  18, 
19,  we  learn  that  the  disobedience  of  Adam  involved  both 
himself  and  all  his  posterity  in  the  guilt  of  sin  ;  but  we  are 
also  taught  the  important  doctrine  of  universal  redemp- 
tion. The  words  ol  noXhu  (the  many)  occur  in  both  parts 
,of  the  verse,  and»signify  the  whole  human  race,  exclusive 
of  the  offender  and  the  Redeemer.  Hence  the  merits  of 
the  second  Adam  not  only  equal  but  far  surpass  the  de- 
merits of  the  first  Adam.  We  should  also  remember  that 
the  first  Adam  was  of  the  earth,  and  only  a  living  soul ; 
while  the  second  Adam  was  a  quickening  spirit,  and  the 
Lord  from  heaven.  See  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians (xv.  45-4*7).  It  is  also  written  in  Romans  (v.  16), 
"And  not  as  it  was  by  one  that  sinned,  so  is  the  gift :  for 
the  judgment  was  by  one  to  condemnation,  but  the  free 
gift  is  of  many  offenses  unto  justification."  Through  the 
one  offense  of  Adam,  condemnation  passed  upon  all  men  ; 
but  through  the  blood  of  Christ  the  sins  of  all  men  are  or 
can  be  washed  away.  Now,  David  tells  us  (Ps.  xl.)  that 
his  iniquities  were  more  in  number  than  the  hairs  of  his 
head ;  and  if  such  was  the  case  with  a  man  after  God's 
own  heart,  what  must  be  the  iniquities  of  the  most  aban- 
doned sinner  ?     And  yet  his  catalogue  of  transgressions, 


92  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  UADES. 

in  comparison  \Yith  the  sins  of  all  men  in  every  age  and 
in  every  nation  since  the  foundation  of  the  world,  would 
be  a^  insignificant  as  a  single  drop  of  water  when  com- 
pared with  the  vast  ocean.  All  these  facts  demonstrate 
the  superiority  of  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ  to  remedy 
the  evil  of  Adam's  disobedience.  It  stands  in  need  of  no 
assistance  from  purgatory. 

Respecting  the  fifth  inference,  that  the  merits  of 
Christ  are  exceeded  by  the  demerits  of  Adam,  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  latter  was  a  mere  man, 
while  the  former  was  both  God  and  man.  Hence  we  are 
told  by  St.  Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (v.  20, 
21),  that  **  The  law  entered,  that  the  offense  might 
abound.  But  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  much  more 
abound:  that  as  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death,  even  so 
might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life 
by  Jesus  Christ  our  I^ord." 

We  must  admit  by  the  sixth  inference  that  confinement 
in  prison,  and  the  infliction  of  punishment  upon  an  obsti- 
nate sinner,  will  inculcate  the  principles  of  love  and  moral 
virtue.  The  confining  of  an  immortal  soul  in  prison, 
coupled  with  any  degree  of  punishment  whatever,  may 
extort  a  feigned  repentance  and  deter  from  crime ;  but  it 
is  utterly  incapable  of  producing  love,  gratitude,  or  moral' 
virtue.  Human  nature  is  often  hardened  and  rendered 
more  obdurate  by  the  infliction  of  punishment,  which  is 
calculated  to  foster  a  secret  feeling  of  hatred  and  revenge. 
Confine  an  immortal  soul  in  the  agonies  of  Hades  for  a 
thousand  years,  and  if  it  is  not  bad  at  the  commencement, 
it  certainly  will  be  by  the  expiration  of  that  time.  God's 
means  of  bringing  men  to  salvation  are  kind  and  per- 
suasive in  this  world;  and  why  should  He  adopt  different 
measures  in  the  next  world  ?  Purgatory  is  a  place  of 
punishment,  but  the  infliction  of  punishment  will  not  im- 
plant the  principles  of  love  and  gratitude  in  the  human 
heart;  and  since  this  house  of  correction  does  not  change 
the  nature  of  man  for  the  better,  it  is  evident  that  pur- 
gatorial torments  are  absolutely  incapable  of  restoring  a 
man  to  the  favor  of  God.  No  man  was  ever  yet  im-* 
proved  in  his  moral  condition  by  being  cast  into  jail  and 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  93 

detained  therein.  He  will,  as  a  rule,  loave  the  cell  in 
which  he  has  been  confined  more  desperate  and  hardened. 
Scarcely  any  other  effect  can  be  expected.  Are  there,  I 
would  ask,  many  instances  on  record  of  men  having  been 
morally  improved  by  incarceration  ?  No  one,  who  has 
the  slightest  acquaintance  with  human  nature,  will  ever 
believe  that  imprisonment  can  effect  in  man  a  beneficial 
moral  change.  Daily  experience  confirms  the  truth  of 
this  statement. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  seventh  inference — Belief  in  purgatory  not  calculated  to  encourage 
virtue — Men  influenced  more  by  the  present  than  by  future  time — The 
terrors  of  the  general  judgment  disregarded  by  many  believers — If 
the  Bible  is  true,  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  must  be  false — Purgatory 
irreconcilable  with  the  tender  mercy  of  Jehovah — Inference  eight — 
The  chance  of  pardon  in  the  worjd  to  come  renders  our  Lord's  threat- 
enings  ineffectual — The  silence  of  the  Jews  when  warned  by  our 
Blessed  Lord  about  dying  in  their  sins  shows  they  did  not  expect  for- 
giveness on  the  other  side  the  grave — Inference  nine — The  prayers  of 
the  living  not  effectual  on  behalf  of  the  dead — Death  followed  by  a 
separation,  but  not  immediately  by  the  general  judgment — Inference 
ten — Men  are  justified  by  faith,  and  not  by  works — Scripture  proofs 
— Men  unprofitable  servants  when  they  have  done  all  they  are  com- 
manded— The  righteous  who  shall  be  found  alive  upon  the  earth  at 
the  second  advent  of  Christ  will  not  pass  through  purgatory,  which 
is  a  proof  that  there  is  no  such  place. 

By  the  seventh  inference  we  have  to  believe  that  the 
Bible  warns  men  to  abstain  from  sin,  but  virtually  en- 
courages them  to  continue  therein. 

That  a  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  is  more 
calculated  to  encourage  vice  than  to  lead  to  virtue,  is 
manifest  from  the  very  nature  of  man.  We  know  too 
well  how  all  men  are  more  or  less  influenced  by  sur- 
rounding circumstances,  and  how  much  they  think  of  the 
present  in  comparison  with  either  the  past  or  the  future. 
So  great,  indeed,  is  the  impression  made  upon  the  minds 
of  most  men  by  things  near  at  hand,  that  even  the  terrors 
of  the  general  judgment,  and  the  possibility  of  falling 
into  the  hands  of  an  angry  God,  often  fail  to  produce 
those  salutary  effects  upon  man  which  might  reasonably 
be  expected.  The  temporal  concerns  of  this  world  actually 
influence  men  in  this  manner  who  believe  that  their 
eternal  doom  will  inevitably  be  sealed  at  death,  and  who 
do  not  for  a  moment  imagine  the  possibility  of  any 
change  beyond  the  grave.  If  things  present  exercise 
(94) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  95 

such  mighty  and  all-absorbing  power  over  the  minds  of 
those  who  are  convinced  that  this  world  is  the  only  place 
of  moral  trial,  how  much  more  would  they  be  likely  to 
influence  them  for  the  worse,  if  they  could  only  feel  per- 
suaded that  they  had  another  chance  in  the  next  world, 
in  event  of  their  having  failed  to  make  their  peace  with 
God  while  on  the  earth !  In  fact,  if  the  doctrine  of  pur- 
gatory were  true,  men  have  a  hundred  motives  to  persist 
in  vice  where  they  have  only  one  to  incite  them  to  the 
practice  of  virtue.  Let  such  a  doctrine  be  universally 
admitted,  and  then  the  great  barrier  to  a  sinful  course  is 
broken  down,  and  a  gate  opened  for  filling  the  whole 
earth  with  violence.  To  permit  such  a  state  of  things 
would  not  be  a  manifestation  of  mercy  on  the  part  of 
Jehovah;  but  we  know  that  His  delight  is  in  mercy. 
The  seventh  inference,  then,  seems  altogether  incom- 
patible with  the  nature  of  man  and  the  tender  mercy  of 
God.  It  must  also  be  rejected  on  the  ground  of  making 
the  Bible  contradict  itself,  or  representing  it  as  com- 
manding one  thing  and  encouraging  the  contrary. 

If  inference  eight  were  correct,  our  Lord's  words, 
which  He  addressed  in  so  solemn  a  manner  to  His 
hearers,  must  have  been  almost  without  weight  or  sig- 
nificancy.  In  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  (viii.  24)  He  thus 
spake :  ''  For  if  ye  believe  not  that  I  am  He,  ye  shall  die 
in  your  sins."  Now,  if  there  be  a  purgatorial  locality 
in  which  men  can  be  purified  within  a  certain  time,  our 
Lord's  words,  to  say  the  least,  must  be  materially  weak- 
ened, nor  can  it  be  supposed  that  they  would  excite  any 
amount  of  alarm  in  the  minds  of  those  who  are  almost 
wholly  occupied  with  temporal  things.  Every  one  who 
felt  sure  of  a  secondary  state  of  probation,  would  still 
have  the  inward  feeling  that,  if  he  did  die  in  his  sins, 
there  was  a  prospect  for  him  in  the  future,  and  oppor- 
tunities given  for  making  himself  right  and  happy  for- 
ever. Hence,  upon  the  assumption  of  the  truth  of  pur- 
gatory, we  deduce  the  fact  that  there  would  be  nothing 
terrible  in  our  Blessed  Redeemer's  threat;  which  we 
cannot  admit  to  be  the  case.  We  may  here  remark  that 
had  the  Jews,  to  whom  our  Lord  addressed  these  words, 


96  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

*'  Ye  shall  die  in  your  sins,"  believed  in  the  probability 
of  repentance  and  reformation  in  the  next  world,  they 
would  have  intimated  to  Him  that  they  were  not  so 
deeply  concerned  as  to  the  state  in  which  death  might 
find  them,  inasmuch  as  they  would  have  time  for  settling 
their  spiritual  concerns  during  their  disembodied  state. 
The  silence  of  the  Hebrews  on  the  occasion  in  question 
seems  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  they  had  no  expec- 
tation of  changing  their  condition  in  the  world  to  come. 
They  knew  that  their  eternal  doom  must  be  fixed  by  the 
cold  hand  of  death,  and  therefore  they  did  not  attempt  to 
rebut  our  Blessed  Lord's  solemn  declarations. 

Of  the  ninth  inference,  which  leads  us  to  believe  that 
the  prayers  of  the  living  on  behalf  of  the  dead  are 
effectual  in  the  sight  of  God,  we  may  observe  that  this 
is  sufficiently  answered  by  the  fact  that  there  is  not  a 
state  of  probation  in  the  next  world,  and  consequently 
any  prayers  offered  to  God  for  the  benefit  of  the  departed 
must,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  be  without  effect.  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (ix.  2Y)  we  learn,  ''  It  is 
appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after  this  the 
judgment." 

Now,  what  is  this  judgment  for,  but  to  separate  the 
wheat  from  the  chaff,  to  sever  the  good  from  the  bad,  to 
draw  forever  the  line  of  demarkation  between  those  who 
die  in  Christ  and  those  who  perish  in  their  sins  ?  The 
word  judgment  in  this  text  does  not  mean  the  general 
judgment,  but  that  separation  which  takes  place  imme- 
diately after  death. 

By  inference  ten  it  would  seem  that  men  are  justified 
by  works  rather  than  by  faith;  and  this  we  know  is  not 
the  doctrine  of  Scripture.  We  are  justified  by  faith,  and 
not  by  works.  This  is  evident  from  many  texts  that 
coald  be  advanced.  We  will,  however,  mention  the  fol- 
lowing as  being  sufficient  to  establish  the  doctrine.  In 
the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Luke  (xvii.  10)  we  thus  read: 
"So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  shall  have  done  all  those  things 
which  are  commanded  you,  say.  We  are  unprofitable  ser- 
vants: we  have  done  that  which  was  our  duty  to  do." 
In  these  words  our  Divine  Master  declares  that  when 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  97 

wc  have  done  all  that  He  commands  us,  we  are  unprofit- 
able servants.  And,  I  would  ask,  where  is  the  man  that 
does  all,  or  even  half,  of  the  things  he  is  commanded? 
If  we  are  unprofitable  servants  after  we  have  done  all 
that  we  are  enjoined,  how  must  that  unprofitableness  be 
increased  when  we  do  only  a  portion  of  that  which  we 
are  commanded?  Can  we,  after  reading  such  a  text, 
ever  dream  of  being  justified  by  our  works  ?  No  ;  they 
are  altogether  excluded  from  the  ground  of  justification. 
Again,  in  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (ii.  8,  9) 
we  have  these  words:  "Eor  by  grace  are  ye  saved 
through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves ;  it  is  the  gift 
of  God.  Not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast.^^  The 
subordinate  position  taken  by  works  in  the  justification 
of  man  is  evident  from  the  Book  of  Revelation  (xiv.  13), 
where  it  is  thus  written:  "And  I  heard  a  voice  from 
heaven  saying  unto  me.  Write,  Blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth :  Yea,  saith  the 
Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their 
works  do  follow  them."  Here  be  it  observed  that  the 
works  of  those  who  die  in  the  Lord  neither  precede  nor 
accompany  the  departed,  hut  follow  them,  which  clearly 
shows  that  they  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  cause  of 
justification.  If  works  were  the  cause  of  our  justifica- 
tion, it  would  be  necessary  that  they  should  go  before 
the  departed  on  his  way  to  eternal  happiness,  whereas 
Scripture  saith  they  folloiv. 

Let  us,  then,  avoid  falling  into  error  by  supposing  that 
works  alone  are  the  basis  of  our  justification.  Though 
good  works  spring  from  a  true  faith  and  are  pleasing  to 
God,  yet  they  are  not  the  cause  of  justification.  '*  We 
are  accounted  righteous  before  God  only  for  the  merit  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  by  faith,  and  not  by 
our  own  works  or  deservings.  Wherefore,  that  we  are 
justified  by  faith  only  is  a  most  wholesome  doctrine  and 
very  full  of  comfort,  as  more  largely  is  expressed  in  the 
Homily  of  Justification."  (Art.  XI.)  As  regards  good 
works,  the  12th  Article  of  our  Church  thus  speaks :  ''Al- 
beit that  good  works,  which  are  the  fruits  of  faith,  and 
follow  after  justification,  cannot  put  away  our  sins,  and 

1 


98  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

endure  the  severity  of  God's  judgment;  yet  are  they 
pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God  in  Christ,  and  do  spring 
out  necessarily  of  a  true  and  lively  faith,  insomuch  that 
by  them  a  lively  faith  may  be  as  evidently  known  as  a 
tree  discerned  by  the  fruif  It  is  then  undeniably  the 
doctrine  of  Scripture  and  of  our  Church  that/ai^/i,  and 
not  works,  is  the  cause  of  man's  justification. 

The  doctrine  of  purgatory  is  also  condemned  by  what 
will  actually  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  world  ;  for  at 
the  Second  Advent  of  our  Blessed  Lord,  we  know  that 
all  those  who  shall  be  found  alive  on  the  earth  will  be 
taken  away  to  the  general  judgment,  and  pass  imme- 
diately after  that  solemn  event  either  into  hell  or  heaven. 
Now,  if  the  souls  of  all  good  men  have  to  pass  through 
the  ordeal  of  purgatory  for  special  purification  prior  to 
their  entrance  into  heaven,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  the 
righteous,  who  shall  be  living  on  the  earth  at  the  second 
appearance  of  Christ,  should  be  an  exception?  Why 
should  they  have  the  privilege  of  escaping  that  punish- 
ment through  which,  according  to  the  Romish  Church, 
all  other  righteous  individuals  are  compelled  to  pass  ? 
If  such  teaching  is  not  absolutely  false,  then  the  Bible 
cannot  speak  the  truth  when  it  asserts  that  God  is  no 
respecter  of  persons.  That  the  living  righteous  will 
escape  purgatory  is  manifest  from  these  words  (I.  Thess. 
iv.  17)  :  ''  Then  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  shall  be 
caught  up  together  with  them  (the  righteous  dead,  after 
their  resurrection)  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the 
air:  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord.''  We  plainly 
see,  then,  that  from  what  point  soever  purgatory  is 
viewed,  it  is  contradicted  and  condemned  by  the  word  of 
God,  upon  which  alone  we  depend  for  accuracy  of  in- 
formation. We  may  also  observe  that  when  our  Lord 
appears  the  second  time,  at  the  end  of  the  world,  the 
righteous  who  shall  be  found  alive,  will  not  even  be 
required  to  enter  Hades. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

I.  Peter  iii.  17-22,  considered — The  explanation  commonly  given  that 
Christ  preached  by  His  Spirit  in  Noah  during  the  time  the  Ark  was 
being  prepared  proved  to  be  absurd — The  spirits  visited  by  Christ 
were  in  their  disembodied  state,  and  that  which  was  effected  by  Christ 
was  done  during  His  disembodied  state,  or  the  time  which  elapsed 
between  His  Crucifixion  and  Resurrection — Assuming  that  Christ 
actually  preached  to  the  spirits  in  Hades,  it  undoubtedly  follows  that 
God  is  changeable,  and  by  comparison  it  also  follows  that  He  is  par- 
tial in  His  mercy — The  text  considered  under  three  heads — It  is 
unscriptural  to  assert  that  the  spirits  in  Hades  could  be  removed  to 
Paradise,  even  if  they  had  repented— Christ's  sojourn  in  Hades  was  a 
continuation  of  His  sufferings  for  human  transgression — If  forgiveness 
is  possible  in  the  next  world,  why  did  not  God  extend  His  mercy  long 
before  to  the  antediluvians  ? — The  wicked  dead  either  do  not  repent 
at  all,  or  their  repentance  is  of  no  avail — Hence  their  unchangeable 
condition  in  the  next  world. 

We  must  now  attend  to  that  portion  of  Scripture  con- 
cerning which  so  much  has  been  said  and  written. 
Though  the  whole  difficulty  lies  in  the  words,  "  By  which 
also  He  went  and  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison,"  yet  it 
will  to  some  extent  be  obviated  by  quoting  the  text,  and  so 
much  of  the  chapter  as  seems  to  bear  upon  the  subject. 
St.  Peter  thus  speaks  (I.  Pet.  iii.  U-22)  :  ''For  it  is  better 
if  the  will  of  God  be  so,  that  ye  suffer  for  well  doing,  than 
for  evil  doing.  For  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for 
sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  He  might  bring  us  to 
God,  being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the 
Spirit:  by  which  also  He  went  and  preached  to  the  ' 
spirits  in  prison  ;  which  sometime  were  disobedient,  when 
once  the  long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of 
Noah,  while  the  ark  was  a  preparing,  wherein  few,  that 
is,  eight  souls  were  saved  by  water.  The  like  figure 
whereunto  even  baptism  doth  now  save  us  (not  the 
putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of 

(99) 


100  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

a  good  conscience  toward  God),  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  :  who  is  gone  into  heaven,  and  is  on  the 
right  hand  of  God  ;  angels  and  authorities  and  powers 
being  made  subject  unto  Him.'^ 

According  to  the  above  translation  of  St.  Peter's 
words,  we  are  given  to  understand  that  Christ  suffered 
for  sins,  was  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  raised  from  the 
dead  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  by  the  same  Holy  Spirit 
went  and  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  namely,  to 
those  spirits  who  were  once  disobedient  in  the  time  of 
Noah.  It  may  be  observed  that  the  mention  of  the  name 
of  Noah  has  led  many  expositors  of  Scripture  to  deny 
absolutely  the  preaching  of  our  Lord  to  any  disembodied 
spirits;  and  therefore  by  this  preaching  to  ''the  spirits  in 
prison"  they  understand  that  Christ  went  by  his  Spirit 
in  Noah,  as  an  inspired  prophet,  and  preached  to  the  ante- 
diluvians for  the  space  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years  during  which  the  Ark  was  being  prepared.  They 
seem,  however,  to  forget  that  Christ  is  represented  to 
have  effected  in  His  own  person  that  which  He  is  de- 
clared to  have  done.  He  was  ''  quickened  by  the  Spirit, 
by  which  Spirit  He  also  went  and  preached  to  the  spirits 
in  prison."  Who  went  and  preached?  The  answer  is, 
Christ,  who  was  "■  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  and  quickened 
by  the  Holy  Spirit."  Now,  to  deny  that  Christ  Himself 
went  to  ''the  spirits  in  prison,"  is  as  preposterous  in  my 
judgment  as  it  would  be  to  assert  that  He  was  not  "  quick- 
ened by  the  Spirit."  When  the  word  of  God  so  clearly 
and  so  emphatically  declares  that  Christ  was  made  alive 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  by  the  very  same  Holy  Spirit 
went  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  I  say  we  are  taking  a  most 
unwarrantable  liberty  with  the  statements  of  the  inspired 
writer  by  asserting  that  the  visit  to  "  the  spirits  in 
prison"  was  effected  by  Noah  and  not  by  Christ.  If 
Christ  did  not  visit  those  spirits  personally.  He  was  not 
quickened  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  whose  almighty  opera- 
tion both  are  ascribed.  The  one  cannot  be  true  and  the 
other  false.  They  must  both  stand  or  fall  together.  The 
introduction  of  Noah  as  the  deputy  of  our  Redeemer  in 
preaching  to  the  people  of  the  old  world,  is  a  sure  indica- 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  101 

tion  of  the  weakness  of  this  almost  universally  received 
explanation.  I  believe  there  is  no  Scriptural  authority- 
whatever  for  asserting  that  our  Blessed  Lord  ever  per- 
sonally preached  to  the  antediluvians  during  the  120 
years  immediately  preceding  the  general  deluge,  which, 
according  to  the  best  chronologists,  took  place  about  1656 
years  after  the  Creation  of  the  World.  Both  the  render- 
ing of  the  passage  in  question  is  incorrect,  and,  what 
may  be  regarded  as  a  natural  consequence,  the  explana- 
tion is  equally  erroneous.  This  will  be  considered  in  its 
proper  place.  That  which  Christ  is  said  by  the  apostle 
to  have  effected  was  done  during  His  disembodied  state, 
and  those  spirits  whom  He  visited  were  also  in  their 
disembodied  state.  In  other  and  plainer  words,  they 
were  the  souls  of  those  antediluvians  who  perished  in 
their  sins  at  the  Noachian  deluge.  Hence  this  going  to 
the  spirits  in  prison  transpired  during  the  time  that 
elapsed  between  our  Blessed  Lord's  crucifixion  and  His 
resurrection.  ISTow,  we  are  told  that  Christ  "■  went  and 
preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison."  That  He  actually 
went  to  those  unbelieving  spirits  in  the  prison  of  Hades 
is  an  absolute  certainty,  and  His  paying  those  lost  souls 
a  visit  at  that  particular  time,  and  under  the  peculiar 
circumstances,  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  being  done  with- 
out a  substantial  reason  and  without  a  special  object. 
When,  however,  we  come  to  deal  with  His  preaching  to 
those  spirits,  we  encounter  some  very  grave  difficulties 
arising  from  its  apparent  inconsistency  with  numerous 
declarations  of  the  word  of  God. 

Let  us  then,  in  the  first  place,  proceed  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  Christ  in  His  disembodied  state  not  only 
went  but  actually  preached  to  the  separate  souls  in 
Hades :  we  must  inquire  as  to  the  nature  of  that  preach- 
ing, and  the  effects  with  which  it  was  attended.  Did  our 
Lord  go  to  that  dungeon  of  the  damned  for  the  express 
purpose  of  preaching  the  everlasting  gospel  to  those 
fallen  spirits,  in  order  that  they  might  be  reclaimed  and 
restored  to  the  Divine  favor  ?  If  such  were  the  object  of 
our  Lord's  descending  to  those  invisible  regions  of  the 
dead,  it  seems  remarkable  that  there  should  be  no  intima- 


102  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRIJ^B  OF  HADES. 

tion  of  it  in  any  other  portion  of  the  Bible  ;  and  even  in 
St.  Peter's  Epistle  there  appears  nothing  beyond  an  inci- 
dental allusion.  It  is  true,  these  people  of  the  old  world 
were  suddenly  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth  on  ac- 
count of  their  enormous  transgressions,  and  it  may,  in 
consequence  of  that  terrible  judgment,  be  affirmed  that 
this  special  proclamation  of  the  gospel  to  them  by  our 
Blessed  Lord  was  an  act  of  Divine  mercy  by  way  of 
compensation  for  that  awful  judgment  visited  upon  them 
at  the  deluge.  Would  not  this,  however,  indicate  a 
change  of  mind  on  the  part  of  God,  or  imply  that  the 
punishment  formerly  inflicted  upon  them  exceeded  the 
magnitude  of  their  offenses  ?  Allowing  the  preceding  re- 
marks to  be  true,  we  are  under  the  necessity  of  asking 
why  the  same  gracious  act  of  mercy  was  not  extended  to 
the  miserable  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  If 
repentance  and  faith  were  preached  to  one  portion  of 
mankind  as  a  compensation  for  a  sudden  removal  from 
the  face  of  the  earth  by  an  omnipotent  stroke  of  Jehovah, 
why  should  another  portion  of  mankind,  who  had  suffered 
a  similar  fate,  be  deprived  of  the  same,  or  like,  advan- 
tages ?  If  we  compare  the  length  of  their  lives  and  the 
enormity  of  their  sins,  we  must  admit,  on  the  score  of 
justice,  that  the  people  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  had 
stronger  claims  for  hearing  the  sound  of  the  gospel  in 
the  other  world  than  the  antediluvians. 

Another  reason  why  the  people  of  Sodom  had  stronger 
claims  upon  the  Divine  mercy  than  the  antediluvians  was 
this:  the  latter  were  allowed  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years  for  repentance  and  the  necessary  preparation ; 
while  the  former  were  not  permitted  to  have  any  such 
definite  warning.  Were  it  true,  then,  that  God  thus  dealt 
with  those  who  perished  at  the  deluge,  and  yet  withheld 
the  same  gracious  offer  from  the  inhabitants  of  Gomorrah, 
who  were  destroyed  by  fire  from  heaven,  such  proceeding 
seems  very  like  making  the  Divine  Being  a  respecter  of 
persons;  but  we  know  that  that  is  not  in  accordance  with 
His  transcendent  holiness.  Moreover,  if  the  destruction 
of  a  generation  of  men  at  any  one  time,  on  account  of 
their  iniquities,  is  to  be  considered  as  a  substantial  reason 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  103 

for  tendering  them  offers  of  salvation  at  some  future 
period  in  the  next  world,  then  the  gospel  ought  to  be 
preached  to  those  Jews  who  were  destroyed  by  thou- 
sands when  Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Romans. 
Again,  the  present  world  is  to  be  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
therefore  the  wicked  who  will  be  swept  from  the  face  of 
the  earth  at  that  terrible  catastrophe  should  be  regarded 
as  objects  of  the  Divine  clemency,  so  that  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation  ought  to  be  preached  to  them  some  two  or 
three  thousand  years  after  the  day  of  judgment !  Who 
are  to  be  the  preachers  of  the  everlasting  gospel  to  these 
wicked  dead?  Will  our  Lord  Himself  visit  them  for  that 
special  purpose  ?  Surely  not ;  for  His  mediatorial  king- 
dom will  cease  the  very  moment  that  He  assumes  the 
character  of  the  Judge.  Will  the  work  be  accomplished 
by  men  or  by  angels ?  Certainly  by  neither;  for  as  soon 
as  judgment  begins  the  probationary  career  must  of  ne- 
cessity terminate.  We  cannot  see,  then,  why  the  gospel 
should  be  preached  to  one  portion  of  the  wicked  dead, 
and  yet  withheld  from  another  portion  equally  or  prob- 
ably more  deserving.  Supposing  we  take  the  most  favor- 
able view  of  this  matter,  and  admit  the  preaching  of 
Christ  to  the  prisoners  of  Hades,  we  are  left  in  the  dark 
as  to  the  effects  of  His  preaching.  We  may  nevertheless 
deal  with  the  subject  in  this  manner ; — 

1.  Either  all  those  condemned  souls  repented,  believed, 
and  were  saved ;  or 

2.  All  continued  in  their  infidelity,  and  were  left  in  the 
same  state  of  condemnation  in  which  Christ  found  them ; 
or 

3.  A  part  of  them  repented  and  obtained  pardon ; 
while  the  rest  remained  in  their  obstinacy,  and  therefore 
under  condemnation. 

The  effects  of  our  Lord^s  proclaiming  the  gospel  to  the 
wicked  dead  must  come  under  one  of  the  preceding  heads ; 
and  hence  it  will  follow  that  all  those  that  repented  and 
were  saved  must  have  been  removed  at  once  from  the 
prison  of  condemnation  aud  conveyed  to  the  abode  of  the 
regenerate  in  the  region  of  paradise  called  Abraham's 
bosom.     This  removal  from  the  prison  of  Plades  to  the 


104  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 

paradise  of  the  blessed  we  know  to  be  both  unreasonable, 
unseriptural,  and  impossible.  I  make  this  assertion  on 
the  authority  of  Christ  Himself,  and  for  its  condrmation 
I  refer  the  reader  to  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  (xvi.  25,  26), 
where  we  read  these  decisive  words:  "But  Abraham 
said,  Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  lifetime  receivedst 
thy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil  things  :  but 
now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented.  And  be- 
side all  this,  between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf 
fixed:  in  order  that  they  who  would  pass  from  hence  to 
you  cannot;  neither  can  they  pass  to  us,  that  would 
come  from  thence."  Now,  these  are  the  words  of  our 
Lord  Himself,  in  which  He  has  declared  the  impossibility 
of  the  regenerate  dead  passing  from  their  happy  abode  to 
the  region  of  the  unregenerate  dead,  and  also  the  im- 
possibility of  the  wicked  leaving  their  dungeons  for  the 
paradise  of  the  righteous.  Then,  since  there  is  no  going 
from  one  region  to  the  other  in  the  next  world,  we  have 
a  proof  of  the  unalterable  condition  both  of  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked  dead.  And  if  it  were  possible  for  the 
wicked  to  repent  and  become  good,  it  might  also  be  pos- 
sible for  the  good  to  change  and  become  bad.  The  con- 
clusion from  what  has  been  said  resolves  itself  into  this, 
namely,  that  since  there  is  no  possibility  of  changing  the 
condition  of  either  the  righteous  or  the  wicked  in  the 
world  to  come,  preaching  the  gospel  to  them  could  be 
neither  more  nor  less  than  a  waste  of  time,  and  indeed  a 
solemn  mockery.  Whether  our  Blessed  Lord,  after  His 
decisive  declaration  in  the  parable  above  mentioned,  could 
be  guilty  of  tantalizing  the  lost  souls  in  Hades  by  pre- 
tending to  preach  to  them  in  order  for  their  reformation, 
I  leave  the  reader  to  determine. 

Should  it,  however,  be  insisted  upon  that  Christ  really 
did  go  to  the  other  world  for  the  purpose  of  preaching  to 
the  departed  dead,  His  preaching  must  be  understood  as 
implying  nothing  more  than  a  personal  communication  of 
the  cause  which  had  brought  Him  among  them,  the  suf- 
ferings which  He  had  already  undergone,  and  the  bitter 
anguish  He  was  then  and  there  compelled  to  endure. 
The  announcement  made  by  Christ  in  those  gloomy  re- 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  105 

gions  of  the  wicked  dead  must  have  been  concerning  Him- 
self and  His  unmitigated  sufferings,  inflicted  in  conse- 
quence of  human  transgression  ;  and  could  in  no  way  be 
intended  to*ameliorate  the  condition  of  those  to  whom  He 
made  the  proclamation.  The  very  great  improbability  of 
preaching  the  gospel  to  the  dead  in  the  nether  world  for 
the  purpose  of  procuring  their  salvation  will  appear  in  a 
more  striking  light,  if  we  only  bear  in  mind  that  those 
separate  souls,  to  whom  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
were  conveyed,  had  been  in  Hades  ever  since  the  No- 
achian  Deluge, — a  period  of  23tt  years!  And,  if  those 
miserable  spirits  were  worthy  objects  of  Divine  mercy, 
how  came  it  to  pass  that  so  great  a  number  of  years 
should  elapse  before  the  Almighty  condescended  to  make 
some  manifestation  of  His  clemency  and  forgiveness 
toward  them  ?  One  hundred  years  would  have  been  a  long 
time,  but  what  shall  we  say  of  a  period  extending  over  23 1 7 
years  ?  In  this  world  God  pardons  all  those  that  truly  re- 
pent and  sincerely  believe  His  holy  gospel ;  and  if  forgive- 
ness or  remission  of  sins  is  extended  to  the  lost  dead,  the 
offer  can  only  be  made  on  the  same  conditions.  Repent- 
ance and  faith  must  necessarily  precede  the  forgiveness  of 
sins.  Now,  those  lost  souls,  to  whom  our  Blessed  Lord  is 
said  to  have  preached,  either  repented  of  their  sins,  or  they 
did  not  repent,  prior  to  the  visit  of  the  Saviour  among 
them.  If  repentance,  faith,  and  consequently  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  were  practicable  in  the  other  world,  why  did 
not  those  lost  spirits  in  Hades  repent  and  obtain  pardon 
for  the  iniquities  which  they  committed  while  on  the  earth, 
and  so  have  been  admitted  into  the  mansions  of  the 
blessed  even  some  centuries  prior  to  their  being  visited  by 
the  Son  of  God  ?  That  they  were  found  by  Christ  in  the 
prison  of  Hades  into  which  they  had  been  banished  237 1 
years  before  is  absolutely  certain.  This  solemn  fact  in- 
volves a  very  serious  question  as  to  the  condition  of  the 
wicked  dead,  and  appears  to  destroy  every  glimmering 
of  hope  of  their  state  ever  being  ameliorated.  For  be 
it  carefully  noted  that  those  unbelieving  antediluvians 
either  did  not  repent  at  all  during  the  2377  years  of  their 
Condemnation  in  the  prison  of  Hades,  which  would  ac- 


106  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

count  for  their  protracted  and  continuous  incarceration, 
or  they  did  repent,  but  it  was  too  late,  and  therefore  of 
no  avail  whatever ;  otherwise  they  would  have  been 
removed  from  the  place  of  confinement  before  Christ  de- 
scended into  Hades.  One  of  the  preceding  inferences 
must  be  true ;  and,  whether  we  admit  the  former  or  the 
latter,  we  necessarily  arrive  at  a  conclusion  which  clearly 
demonstrates  the  unchangeable  state  of  the  unregenerate 
dead  in  the  next  world,  and  at  the  same  time  proves 
with  equal  efl&cacy  the  futility  of  any  preaching  or  expos- 
tulation whatever  to  the  lost  souls  in  Hades,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing:  about  their  reformation  and  ultimately 
their  salvation. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

I.  Peter  iii.  19,  critically  examined — The  word  in  the  original,  translated 
"preached/'  fully  discussed — If  the  word  "preached/'  in  the  text,  has 
the  same  signification  that  it  generally  has,  why  not  followed  by  an 
objective  case? — Christ's  preaching  to  the  spirits  in  prison  objected  to 
on  the  ground  that,  unlike  every  other  step  in  the  redemptive  history, 
it  was  neither  foretold  nor  foreshadowed — Christ's  position  and  condi- 
tion while  in  Hades  incompatible  with  preaching — The  opinion  that 
Christ  preached  to  the  antediluvians  with  a  view  to  their  reformation 
contradicted  by  the  context — The  true  interpretation  of  the  passage 
implies  that  Christ  suffered  after  death — Peter  shown  clearly  to  con- 
tradict himself,  if  the  common  explanation  of  the  text  be  correct — 
The  pains  of  dying  and  the  pains  of  death  contrasted — The  things  the 
Bible  declares  to  have  been  done  to  Christ  and /or  Christ  considered — 
David's  prediction  of  our  Lord's  sufferings  in  Hades — Peter's  intention 
in  using  the  designations  Christ  and  Jesus  Christ  throughout  the 
Epistle. 

I  SHALL  now  endeavor  to  show  that  the  portion  of 
Scripture  under  examination  ought  to  be  regarded  as 
containing  a  sense  entirely  different  from  any  hitherto 
ascribed  to  it ;  for  no  one  can  truthfully  deny  that  the 
passage,  as  it  now  stands,  contradicts  many  other  portions 
in  God's  word,  and  therefore  none  of  the  meanings  com- 
monly attached  to  it  ought  to  be  considered  as  the  true 
interpretation.  The  portion  of  Scripture  under  investiga- 
tion we  shall  translate  after  the  following  manner :  ''  For 
it  is  better,  if  the  will  of  God  be  so,  that  ye  suffer  for 
well-doing,  than  for  evil-doing.  Because  Christ  also  once 
suffered  for  sins,  a  just  for  unjust  persons,  in  order  that 
He  might  bring  us  to  God,  being  put  to  death  indeed 
in  the  body,  but  enlivened  in  the  spirit ;  in  which  spirit 
He  also  went  and  cried  aloud  in  prison  among  those 
spirits  who  formerly  believed  not,  when  the  long-suffering 
of* God  was  waiting  in  the  time  of  Noah,  while  the  ark 
was  being  prepared,  into  which  a  few,  that  is,  eight  per- 
sons, having  entered,  were  saved  through  water." 

(107) 


108  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

Instead  of  rendering  that  Christ  '^preached  to  the 
spirits  in  prison,"  I  prefer  giving  the  sense  of  crying 
aloud  among  those  spirits  as  one  of  the  suffering  number, 
and  for  so  doing  I  assign  the  following  reasons  and  texts 
of  Scripture: 

1.  Because  the  word  hrjpu^s  here  rendered  "preached'^ 
is  from  xripbafro),  and  signifies  not  only  to  ijreach,  to  pro- 
claim and  announce  as  a  herald,  but  also  to  invoke,  to 
praij  to,  to  cry  aloud  for  help  or  assistance,  and  the  con- 
text and  subject  of  discourse  must  determine  in  what 
sense  the  word  ought  to  be  taken.  We  find  the  word 
has  the  sense  of  invoking  in  Euripides,  Hec,  145;  and 
for  the  information  of  the  reader  I  here  give  the  passage 
in  the  original  and  subjoin  the  translation  : 

rj^EL  6*  'OdvGEvg  baov  ova  Tjdrj, 
7zC}7j)v  a(^Ek^G)V  gCjv  uno  fiaoTuv, 
€K  re  yepatag  x^pog  opfXTjcov. 
u7JC  Idt  vaovg,  Idt  npbg  (Sufiovg, 
l^  'Ayafie/LLVOi^og  UeTig  yovurov 
KTjpvoae  'deovg,  rovg  r'  Ovpavldag 
Tovg  6'  vnb  yalag-  y  yap  ae  TuTol 
dtaicuTivaova'  upcpavbv  elvat 
naidog  fieTxag,  y  del  &  eKiSelv 
rvfijiov  irpoTzerf],  (poLVLOGOfievav 
alfiaTi  irapdevov  en  xp'^(^o(p6pofU 
deLpfjg  vaofjub  fieTiavavyel. 

"And  Ulysses  will  come  almost  immediately,  to  tear 
thy  child  from  thy  bosom,  and  to  hurry  her  away  from 
thy  aged  arms.  But  go  to  the  temples,  haste  to  the  altars, 
sit  as  a  suppliant  at  the  knees  of  Agamemnon,  invoke  the 
gods,  both  those  of  heaven  and  those  beneath  the  earth ; 
for  either  thy  prayers  will  prevent  thee  from  being  deprived 
of  thy  unfortunate  daughter,  or  thou  must  see  the  virgin 
falling  before  the  tomb,  stained  with  blood  gushing  forth 
in  a  stream  of  shining  black  color  from  her  neck  adorned 
with  gold." 

The  word  in  this  passage,  from  the  Hecuba  of  Euripi- 
des, is  xijpu(T(7£,  from  xrjp()(7(ja),  meaning  to  invoke,  or  call 
upon  for  help,  and  is  the  very  same  as  that  found  in  the 
text  in  St.  Peter's  Epistle.  It  will  be  seen  that  Hecuba, 
being  under  the  apprehension  of  having  her  daughter  torn 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  109 

with  violence  from  her,  in  order  to  be  put  to  death,  was 
counseled  to  go  with  all  speed  to  the  temples  and  before 
the  altars  to  invoke  the  gods,  that  is,  to  pray  to  them  for 
aid  in  her  distressed  condition  ;  and  we  are  of  opinion  that 
the  word  should  be  regarded  as  having  a  similar  significa- 
tion in  the  text  we  are  now  considering. 

The  view  here  taken,  however,  may  be  objected  to  on 
the  ground  that  7.rjpo(7(7ev^  in  the  New  Testament  generally 
signifies  to  preach,  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  of  salva- 
tion, and  therefore  it  ought  to  have  the  same  import  in  St. 
Peter's  Epistle.  In  answering  this  very  natural  objection,  I 
submit  that  the  word  in  the  Epistle  should  have  a  meaning 
different  from  that  assigned  to  it  in  any  other  portion  of 
the  New  Testament,  because  it  is,  if  I  do  not  mistake,  the 
only  place  in  Avhich  we  find  it  used  in  reference  to  one  that 
was  in  a  state  of  suffering.  In  all  the  other  passages  of 
the  New  Testament  in  which  the  word  occurs,  it  appears 
to  be  employed-by,  or  in  connection  with,  active  subjects ; 
but  in  the  text  in  St.  Peter's  Epistle  it  is  used  of  one  in  a 
passive  condition,  which  was  evidently  the  case  with  our 
Blessed  Lord  while  in  Hades.  As  a  proof  that  a  word 
is  occasionally  employed  in  a  somewhat  peculiar  sense,  I 
might  mention  dcaOrjzrj,  which  generally  signifies  a  cove- 
nant, and  yet  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (ix.  16,  IT)  it 
most  undoubtedly  denotes  a  testament.  Should  a  further 
objection  be  made  against  the  meaning  attached  by  me  to 
ixTjpu^s,  because  it  is  not  followed  by  an  accusative  case, 
I  answer  that  the  apostle  uses  the  word  not  in  a  definite, 
but  in  an  indefinite  sense,  being,  as  he  decidedly  was, 
more  concerned  with  the  voluntary  sufferings  of  Christ 
than  with  the  desire  of  the  Saviour  to  be  delivered  from 
those  sufferings.  The  root  from  which  both  xripoacra)  and 
•Apd^u)  are  derived  is  the  Ghaldaic  t*)3,  which  signifies  to 
cry  out.  It  occurs  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  (v.  29),  and  is 
rendered  by  our  translators,  to  make  a  proclamation; 
while  in  the  same  text  in  the  Septuagint  the  word  -Aripijaauv 
is  employed. 

2.  In  the  text  of  St.  Peter's  Epistle  the  word  ky.y]pu^s  is 
followed  neither  by  an  accusative  case,  nor  yet  hj  the 
words  He  used  on  the  occasion,  as  it  certainly  ought  to 


110  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES, 

have  been  had  the  inspked  writer  wished  his  readers  to 
understand  that  our  Lord  really  pr.eached ;  and  if  we 
turn  to  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  {xv'i.  15)  we  shall  find 
the  word  is  followed  by  an  appropriate  expression,  thus : 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  Now,  had  the  apostle  been  desirous  of  im- 
pressing upon  our  minds  the  definite  notion  of  publishing 
the  gospel,  the  word  ought  by  all  means  to  have  been 
succeeded  by  an  objective  case,  because  the  announce- 
ment is  an  independent  and  indefinite  assertion,  nothing 
going  before  or  coming  after  the  declaration  which  could 
justify  us  in  concluding  that  the  Saviour  was  preaching 
repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins.  I  am  aware  that  in 
the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah  (Ixi.  1,  2)  we  have  these 
words:  ''The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me;  be- 
cause the  Lord  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings 
unto  the  meek ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken- 
hearted, to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  open- 
ing of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound:  to  proclaim 
the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  And  it  may  therefore 
be  inferred  that  this  passage  confirms  the  preaching  of 
Christ  to  the  "  spirits  in  prison."  It  so  happens,  how- 
ever, that  our  Blessed  Lord,  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke 
(iv.  18,  19),  has  quoted  the  very  words  of  the  prophet, 
and  in  verse  21  of  the  same  chapter  He  comments  upon 
them  to  this  effect :  ''  This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled 
in  your  ears."  This  declaration  clearly  shows  that  the 
prediction  of  Isaiah  in  no  way  implied  that  our  Lord  was 
to  preach  to  the  spirits  in  the  other  world. 

3.  Another  objection  equally  fatal  to  His  preaching  to  the 
"  spirits  in  prison"  lies  in  this :  Every  step  in  the  redemp- 
tive history  of  our  Lord,  even  from  His  Incarnation  to  His 
Ascension,  is  most  distinctly  and  definitely  pointed  out  in 
the  Old  Testament,  either  by  types  or  prophecies,  or  by 
both,  and  yet  I  believe  there  does  not  exist  a  shadow  of 
a  hint  in  that  inspired  portion  of  God^s  word  that  He 
was  to  preach  to  any  disembodied  spirits,  whether  good 
or  b^d. 

4.  Looking  at  the  matter  a  little  deeper,  I  maintain 
that  our  Lord's  position  and  condition  at  that  time  were 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  HI 

absolutely  incompatible  with  preaching,  in  the  proper 
acceptation  of  that  term ;  because,  from  the  very  moment 
that  He  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinners  to  be 
crucified  till  the  morning  of  His  resurrection,  He  was  not 
an  active  but  a  passive  subject,  suffering,  as  He  did,  what 
was  done  to  Him  by  others,  and  living  under  the  dominion 
of  death.  Hence  our  Lord  twice  delivered  Himself  up, 
— first  to  His  enemies  for  crucifixion;  and  then,  as  He 
expired  on  the  cross,  to  His  heavenly  Father,  saying, 
"  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my  Spirit,"  not  to 
be  comforted,  but  to  endure  anguish  as  a  substitute  for 
sinners.  Being  placed  in  the  stead  of  sinful  man,  it  be- 
hoved Him  to  suffer  as  sinful  man. 

5.  If  our  Lord  preached  to  the  *'  spirits  in  prison'^  with 
a  view  to  their  reformation,  then  we  must  conclude  that 
death  does  not  materially  alter  a  man's  condition,  inas- 
much as  the  departed  can  repent  and  be  converted  to  God 
there  as  well  as  here.  One  might  indeed  be  led  to  sup- 
pose that  human  existence  in  the  next  world  is  a  continua- 
tion of  the  same  state  of  things  experienced  in  this,  if  we 
had  not  declarations  of  Scripture  to  the  contrary.  A  care- 
ful reading  of  the  chapter  in  which  our  Redeemer  is 
thought  to  have  preached  will  show  most  distinctly  that 
nothing  could  be  so  foreign  to  the  apostle's  mind.  The 
inspired  writer  speaks  of  the  happy  results  of  suffering 
for  well-doing,  and  mentions  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  with 
their  glorious  effects  upon  ourselves,  as  an  indication  that 
His  followers  must  not  expect  to  escape  altogether  simi- 
lar trials  and  hardships.  We  find  the  apostle  states  four 
important  facts  respecting  our  Lord,  and  each  in  proper 
chronological  order,  thus : — 

1.  His  crucifixion. 

2.  His  descent  into  Hades  and  short  stay  among  the 
lost  ''  spirits  in  prison." 

3.  His  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

4.  His  ascension  and  universal  dominion. 

Before  we  proceed  farther,  we  must  give  what  we  be- 
lieve to  be  the  meaning  of  St.  Peter's  words.  He  tells 
us  that  Christ  once  suffered  for  sins,  and  then  he  goes 
on  to  say  in  what  that  suffering  consisted.     There  were 


112  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES, 

stages  or  degrees  in  it.  Christ  was  put  to  death  in  the 
flesh,  but  quickened  in  the  spirit  in  which  He  went  to  the 
spirits  in  prison.  Now,  there  is  either  a  contrast  in  these 
words,  or  there  is  not.  If  there  be  no  contrast  implied  in 
the  words  ''put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  in 
the  spirit,"  it  is  very  difficult  to  know  what  St.  Peter 
really  means.  It  is  quite  true  that  a  man  may  be  put  to 
death  in  various  ways,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  he  can 
die  only  one  physical  death,  and  therefore  to  speak  of  a 
man's  jjeing  put  to  death  in  the  body,  since  he  could  not 
undergo  a  physical  death  out  of  his  body,  appears,  in  my 
judgment,  to  be  scarcely  sense ;  but  if  we  understand  that 
the  existence  of  Christ  out  of  His  flesh  is  contrasted  with 
the  existence  of  Christ  in  the  flesh,  the  difficulty  at  once 
vanishes.  The  import  of  the  apostle's  words  I  take  to 
be,  that  the  Redeemer,  after  expiring  on  Calvary,  entered 
upon  another  state  of  existence,  Avhich  to  Him  was  one  of 
suffi3ring ;  and  He  is  said  to  be  quickened  or  enlivened, 
because  His  spiritual  personality,  or  soul,  ceased  to  per- 
form its  functions  through  the  medium  of  a  perishing 
body.  This  statement  will  be  better  understood  by  bear- 
ing in  mind  that  all  men,  except  those  who  shall  be  found 
living  upon  the  earth  at  our  Lord's  Second  Advent,  must 
undergo  three  stages  of  existence.  The  first  extends  from 
a  man's  birth  to  his  death,  during  which  time  the  soul  is 
confined  in  its  action  to  a  body  subject  to  numerous  infirm- 
ities, diseases,  and  mortality.  The  second  state  of  being 
commences  the  moment  the  soul  is  freed  by  death  from 
the  trammels  of  the  body,  and  then  it  may  with  all  pro- 
priety and  truth  be  said  to  be  enlivened  or  quickened,  be- 
cause it  ceases  to  be  clogged  in  its  movements  by  the 
sluggishness  of  matter.  In  such  a  condition  every  action 
of  the  soul  is  necessarily  immediate,  whereas  before  that 
each  operation  could  only  be  mediate.  In  this  abstract 
state  of  spiritual  existence  did  our  Blessed  Lord  go  and 
sojourn  for  a  short  time  among  the  lost  dead  in  the  unseen 
world.  The  third  state  of  existence  awaiting  all  men  is 
that  in  which  there  will  be  a  reunion  of  the  soul  with  the 
body  after  the  latter  has  put  on  immortality,  or  become 
altogether  free  from  disease  and  death.     Christ  alone  has 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  113 

entered  upon  this  last  state  of  existence,  because  He  has 
risen  from  the  dead  never  to  die  any  more.  The  apostle, 
then,  manifestly  intends  to  carry  out  the  notion  that  the 
crucifixion  of  Christ  was  not  the  end  of  those  sufferings, 
which  only  found  their  culmination  among  the  wicked 
dead  in  the  prison  of  Hades.  If  the  view  here  taken  is 
not  correct,  then  we  shall  be  compelled  to  admit  that  St. 
Peter  contradicts  himself.  The  truth  of  our  assertion 
will  be  seen  at  once  by  turning  to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
(ii.  22,  23,  24),  where  it  is  thus  written :  ''  Ye  men  of 
Israel,  hear  these  words  :  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  ap- 
proved of  God  among  you,  by  miracles,  and  wonders,  and 
signs,  which  God  did  by  Him  in  the  midst  of  you,  as  ye 
yourselves  also  know :  Him  being  delivered  by  the  de- 
terminate counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have 
taken  and  by  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain  : 
whom  God  hath  raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pains  of 
death :  because  it  was  not  possible  that  he  should  be 
holden  of  it."  The  most  careless  reader  cannot  fail  to  see 
that  the  ''  pains  of  death"  mentioned  in  this  passage  were 
those  which  Christ  actually  suffered  in  the  region  of  Hades. 
There  may,  however,  be  some  that  will  still  object  to  this 
doctrine,  and  therefore  we  shall  consider  the  words  of  the 
apostle  somewhat  in  detail.  The  text  declares  that  certain 
things  were  done  to  Cha'ist,  and  that  certain  things  were 
done /or  Christ,  both  in  this  world  and  in  that  which  is  to 
come.  Those  things  which  were  done  to  Christ  on  earth, 
the  culminating  point  of  which  was  His  shameful  death 
on  Calvary,  were  perpetrated  by  wicked  men,  but  with 
the  permission  of  God.  Beyond  this  point  they  could  not 
go.  Hence  it  is  that  our  Blessed  Lord  in  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew  (x.  28)  says:  ''Fear  not  them  which  kill  the 
body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul  :  but  rather  fear 
Him  which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell." 
We  plainly  see,  then,  and  we  also  know  by  experience, 
that  the  greatest  injury  that  one  man  can  possibly  inflict 
upon  another  is  to  put  him  to  death.  After  this  manner 
was  our  adorable  Redeemer  treated  by  malicious  Jews 
and  ignorant  Gentiles.  They  put  Him  to  an  ignominious 
death,  but  in  so  acting  they  placed  Him  where  their  hands 


114  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

could  inflict  upon  Him  no  further  punishment.  In  other 
words,  they  killed  His  body,  but  were  unable  to  kill  His 
soul.  Such  was  the  culmiuating  point  of  those  sufferings 
which  our  Lord  had  to  endure  at  the  hands  of  wicked 
men.  We  must  now  pass  on  to  examine  what  was  done 
to  Christ  by  His  heavenly  Father. 

In  considering  what  was  done  to  Christ  by  the  Al- 
mighty Himself,  we  must  be  careful  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  pains  of  dying,  and  the  pains  of  death;  because 
they  are  two  things  as  essentially  distinct  from  each 
other  as  the  head  and  the  heart.  They  must  of  necessity 
take  place  at  different  times  and  in  different  places.  It  is  as 
impossible  for  the  two  to  exist  simultaneously  as  it  would 
be  for  tvvo  bodies  to  occupy  the  same  place  at  the  same 
moment  of  time.  The  pains  of  dying  must  terminate 
before  the  pains  of  death  can  begin.  The  former  state 
belongs  exclusively  to  this  world,  the  latter  to  the  next 
world.  The  pains  of  dying  are  felt  while  a  man  is  still 
living  ;  the  pains  of  death  are  only  experienced  after  he 
is  dead.  It  is  as  impossible  for  a  living  man  to  experi- 
ence the  pains  of  death  as  it  must  be  for  a  dead  man  to 
suffer  the  pains  of  dying.  We  are  told  that  St.  Peter 
himself  was  crucified,  and  if  this  be  true,  then  we  are  jus- 
tified in  asserting  that  he  suffered  the  pains  of  dying,  but 
surely  he  never  experienced  the  pains  of  death,  unless  he 
entered  upon  a  state  of  punishment  after  the  death  of  the 
body.  The  pains  of  dying  appertain  to  a  man  in  the 
body,  the  pains  of  death  to  a  man  out  of  the  body.  We 
might  illustrate  this  great  fact  in  various  ways,  but  per- 
haps one  or  two  examples  will  be  sufficient  to  make  it 
well  understood.  This  distinction  was  clearly  exemplified 
in  the  case  of  the  two  thieves  who  were  crucified  with 
Christ.  Both  those  offenders  were  compelled  to  endure 
the  agonies  of  crucifixion,  and  therefore  both  suffered  the 
pains  of  dying.  What  became  of  the  two  malefactors 
after  they  were  dead  ?  The  penitent  thief  was  immedi- 
ately taken  to  a  place  of  happiness,  and  therefore  he  did 
not  "suffer  the  ''pains  of  death."  The  impenitent  thief 
went  to  no  such  abode  of  felicity,  but  to  one  of  misery, 
and  therefore  after  he  had  undergone  the  pains  of  dying, 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE 

he  would  also  experience  the  pains  of 
men  suffer  the  pains  of  dying,  but  none  < 
endured,  and  they  never  will  endure,  the^**^inii  of 
death."  Was  this  not  the  case  with  Cranmer,  Ridley, 
Latimer,  and  other  martyrs  who  were  burned  at  the  stake 
for  their  rehgious  opinions  ?  They  all  suffered  pai'U  while 
they  were  dying,  but  we  believe  they  never  experienced 
pain  after  they  were  dead.  In  fact,  the  **  pains  of  death  " 
are  only  experienced  by  such  as  perish  in  their  sins. 
Christ  was  an  exception  to  this  rule,  because  He  was  the 
substitute  for  sinful  man.  When,  therefore,  the  apostle 
declares  that  God  ''  loosed  the  pains  of  death,"  he  inti- 
mates the  liberation  of  Christ  from  the  anguish  He  was 
suffering  in  Hades.  To  loose  the  pains  of  death,  means 
to  put  an  end  to  them.  The  loosing  of  these  pains  im- 
plies that  Christ  was  previously  suffering  them.  Hence 
physical  death  in  this  world  and  spiritual  death  in  the 
next  were  the  things  done  to  Christ,  or  the  punishment 
He  was  compelled  to  undergo.  The  things  done  for 
Christ  were  also  two.  God  delivered  Him  from  the  pains 
of  Hades,  and  then  raised  Him  from  the  region  of  the  de- 
parted dead.  On  this  account  St.  Paul  tells  us  (Rom.  vi. 
9)  that  "death  hath  no  more  dominion  over  Him,"  which 
surely  implies  that  He  was  once  under  the  dominion  of 
death.  As  a  further  confirmation  that  Christ  suffered 
anguish  between  His  death  on  the  cross  and  His  resur- 
rection, I  may  observe  that  in  the  Acts  (ii.  24)  the  read- 
ing of  the  Syriac  and  Yulgate  is  Hades.  And  in  Psalm 
cxvi.  3,  we  have  a  prediction  of  our  Lord's  sufferings  dur- 
ing the  time  of  His  disembodied  state  that  corresponds 
with  the  passage  in  the  Acts  which  we  have  been  consid- 
ering, and  it  is  written  in  these  words :  **  The  sorrows  of 
death  encompass  me,  and  the  pains  of  Hades  gat  hold 
upon  me."  I  hope  the  arguments  in  this  chapter  alone 
are  sufficiently  cogent  to  satisfy  any  reasonable  inquirer 
after  truth,  that  our  Redeemer  did  not  descend  into  the 
prison  of  Hades  with  a  view  to  preaching,  but  for  the 
purpose  oi  suffering.  It  may,  however,  be  asked  Why  it 
was  impossible  for  Christ  to  be  holden  in  death?  The 
answer  is,  Because  He  had  paid  the  full  penalty  of  man's 


116  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES, 

disobedience.  Death  having  no  further  demands  upon 
Him,  could  no  longer  exercise  dominion  over  Him.  On 
the  ground  of  justice  alone  His  further  detention  became 
impossible. 

6.  Independently  of  the  preceding  arguments  and 
Scriptural  declarations  in  support  of  our  view  respecting 
the  condition  of  the  Saviour  among  the  dead,  I  may  re- 
mind the  reader  that  St  Peter  himself  seems  by  the  way 
in  which  he  uses  the  names  Christ  and  Jesus  Christ,  to 
distinguish  between  our  Lord's  state  of  humiliation  and 
suffering,  and  that  of  His  exaltation  and  glory.  When 
the  apostle  refers  to  our  Redeemer  as  being  directly  or 
indirectly  connected  with  suffering,  he  simply  calls  Him 
Christ;  and  when  he  speaks  of  Him  as  having  accom- 
plished the  great  work  of  the  atonement,  he  denominates 
Him  Jesus  Christ,  or  by  some  equivalent  designation. 
In  proof  of  this  distinction,  I  must  refer  the  reader  to  the 
following  texts :  I.  Peter  i.  11-19  ;  ii.  21 ;  iii.  18  ;  iv.  1-14  ; 
V.  1.  All  the  preceding  passages  view  Christ  in  a  state 
of  humiliation  and  suffering.  The  subsequent  texts  allude 
to  our  Saviour  in  a  state  of  exaltation  and  glory :  I.  Peter 
i.  1,  2,  3,  T,  13  ;  iii.  21 ;  iv.  11 ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  our  Lord  observed  this  distinction  when  speaking  of 
Himself  after  His  resurrection,  for  He  says  in  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Luke  (xxiv.  26) :  *'  Ought  not  Christ  to  have  suf- 
fered these  things  and  to  enter  into  His  glory  V  Now, 
keeping  this  distinction  in  view,  and  bearing  in  mind  that 
St.  Peter  tells  us  (I.  Peter  iii.  18)  that  "  Christ  once  suf- 
fered,^^  and  does  not  use  the  term  "Jesus  Christ"  till  he 
speaks  of  His  resurrection  at  verse  21,  which  was  the 
first  degree  of  His  exaltation,  we  may  fairly  conclude 
that  the  inspired  writer  designed,  from  verse  18  to  21,  to 
set  forth  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  This  is  another  fact 
strongly  corroborative  of  the  view  I  am  endeavoring  to 
establish. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  necessity  and  importance  of  attending  to  certain  prophetic  pas- 
sages of  Scripture — The  true  condition  of  Christ's  soul  during  its 
separation  from  the  body — Christ's  suffering  in  Hades  clearly  pre- 
figured by  a  remarkable  event  in  the  life  of  Joseph — The  cause  gener- 
ally given  of  our  Lord's  agony  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  unrea- 
sonable and  antiscriptural — His  sufferings  both  in  the  garden  and  on 
the  cross  reasonably  and  Scripturally  accounted  for — If  Christ  made 
full  atonement  on  the  cross,  why  manifest  such  anguish  of  soul  at  the 
moment  of  victory — Why  the  two  thieves  manifested  no  signs  of 
terror  in  the  face  of  eternity. 

In  the  course  of  this  chapter  I  shall  endeavor  to  point 
out  texts  of  Scripture,  to  show  where  the  soul  of  Christ 
remained  while  His  body  was  in  the  grave,  and  also  to 
prove  that  He  was  not  preaching ,  but  suffering  during  the 
whole  of  that  time.  Before  doing  so,  however,  I  particu- 
larly wish  that  we  should  get  a  clear  understanding  of 
one  most  important  truth  respecting  the  language  of  the 
Bible,  a  deep  and  all-important  truth  which  seems  to 
have  been  so  generally  overlooked.  I  wish  the  peruser 
of  these  pages  to  note  that,  in  reading  what  the  inspired 
penmen  say  of  themselves,  there  are  in  nearly  every 
instance  two  meanings  couched  under  the  words — one 
having  some  application  to  the  persons  and  times  of  the 
writer;  the  other,  which  is  the  real,  genuine^  deep  mean- 
ing, referring  to  Christ  and  His  Church.  And  most  fre- 
quently in  those  passages  where  the  Old  Testament 
writers  are  apparently  speaking  of  themselves,  it  is  in 
fact  our  Lord  uttering  predictions  through  them  concerning 
Himself. 

In  Psalm  xvi.  9,  10,  David  says :  ^'  Therefore  my  heart 
is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth  ;  my  flesh  also  shall  rest 
in  hope.  For  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Hades  ; 
neither  wilt  Thou  suffer  Thine  Holy  One  to  see  corrup- 


118  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

tion."  Now  these  words,  penned  by  David,  were  the 
expressions  of  our  Lord,  who  was  predicting  His  own 
resurrection  through  David  as  an  inspired  prophet.  This 
is  evident  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (ii.  25,  26,  2Y), 
where  St.  Peter  applies  the  very  words  thus:  "■  For  David 
speaketh  concerning  Him  (Jesus).  I  foresaw  the  Lord 
always  before  my  face,  for  He  is  on  my  right  hand,  that 
I  should  not  be  moved :  therefore  did  my  heart  rejoice 
and  my  tongue  was  glad :  moreover  also  my  flesh  shall 
.  rest  in  hope  :  because  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in 
Hades,  neither  wilt  Thou  suffer  Thine  Holy  One  to  see 
eoiTuption."  I  will  just  mention  another  text,  so  remark- 
able, that  it  must  enable  the  most  superficial  reader  to 
see  the  full  significance  of  passages  of  this  character.  In 
Psalm  xxii.  16,  David,  in  describing  his  sufferings,  thus 
speaks  :  ''  They  pierced  My  hands  and  My  feet.'^  Here 
again  it  is  manifest  that  our  Lord  was  predicting  His 
own  sufferings  through  David.  In  fact  these  words  can- 
not in  any  way  be  applied  to  David,  for  he  never  had  his 
hands  and  feet  pierced  by  crucifixion,  because  he  died  a 
natural  death.  For  in  the  First  Book  of  Kings  (ii.  1,  2, 
10),  we  find  these  words :  ''  Now  the  days  of  David  drew 
nigh  that  he  should  die,  and  he  charged  Solomon,  his  son, 
saying,  I  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth,  be  thou  strong, 
therefore,  and  show  thyself  a  man.  So  David  slept  with 
his  fathers,  and  was  buried  in  the  city  of  David."  Is  it 
not  true  and  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  the  words 
found  in  the  sixteenth  verse  of  the  twenty-second  Psalm 
were  really  the  utterances  of  Christ,  who  foretold,  through 
David  as  an  instrument,  the  sort  of  death  He  was  to  die  ? 
Let  this  text  then,  in  particular,  be  received  by  us  as  a 
sample  of  numerous  other  passages  in  the  Divine  record 
which  are  almost  exclusively  applicable  to  our  blessed 
Lord.  We  may  then,  in  this  place,  safely  conclude  that 
the  portion  of  Scripture  quoted  from  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  proves  that  the  soul  or  spirit  of  Christ,  when 
severed  from  the  body,  was  in  Hades,  because  St.  Peter 
declares  that  God  did  not  leave  it  there.  It  must,  of 
necessity,  have  been  in  that  region,  otherwise  its  removal 
thence  would  have  been  an  impossibility.    That  our  Lord 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTQINE  OF  HADES.  119 

was  actually  in  Hades,  no  reasonable  man  will,  I  think, 
attempt  to  deny.  The  question  is,  Did  His  soul,  during 
its  disembodied  state,  sojourn  with  the  righteous  dead  or 
with  the  wicked  dead  ?  We  assert  that  it  was  with  the 
latter.  This  appears  evident  from  numerous  passages  of 
Scripture,  and  even  from  the  words  of  St.  Peter,  who 
declares  that  the  imprisoned  spirits  to  whom  Christ  went 
were  the  souls  of  those  men  that  died  in  unbelief  at  the 
deluge,  and  he  mentions  them  in  order  to  teach  us  that 
the  Redeemer  was  in  that  part  of  Hades  where  the  spirits 
suffer  anguish. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  examine  a  few  of  those  passages 
in  God's  word,  which  may  be  regarded  as  conclusive  of 
Christ's  descent  and  suffering  among  the  lost  dead  in 
Hades.  The  first  text  to  which  I  invite  attention  is 
written  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  (xxxvii.  23,  24,  28),  and 
refers  to  the  treatment  Joseph  received  at  the  hands  of 
his  envious  brethren.  Joseph  was  a  distinguished  type 
of  Christ,  and  therefore  any  important  event  in  his  life 
may  fairly  be  held  to  be  typical  of  a  similar  event  in  the 
life  of  our  Lord.  The  words  of  Scripture  are  these :  ''And 
it  came  to  pass,  when  Joseph  was  come  unto  his  breth- 
ren, that  they  stripped  Joseph  out  of  his  coat,  his  coat  of 
many  colors  that  was  on  him,  and  they  took  him  and  cast 
him  into  a  pit,  and  the  pit  was  empty,  there  was  no  water 
in  it.  Then  there  passed  by  Midianites,  merchantmen  ; 
and  they  drew  and  lifted  up  Joseph  out  of  the  pit,  and 
sold  Joseph  to  the  Ishmaelites  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver, 
and  they  brought  Joseph  into  Egypt." 

In  this  portion  of  Scripture  there  are  three  leading 
points  demanding  our  attention,  and  these  points  are: — 

1.  The  casting  of  Joseph  into  the  pit  manifestly  pre- 
figured the  descent  of  Christ  into  Hades. 

2.  His  deliverance  from  that  pit  shadowed  forth  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  from  Hades. 

3.  Joseph's  subsequent  promotion  to  be  next  in  dignity 
to  the  monarch  of  Egypt,  adumbrated  the  exaltation  of 
Jesus  to  the  right  hand  of  God.  Both  were  delivered  up 
through  the  envy  of  their  brethren,  and  each  through  his 
sufferings  was  the  means  of  saving  life. 


120  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

We  must  note  farther,  that  the  inspired  penman  seems 
to  have  been  actuated  by  a  strong  desire  to  impress  the 
minds  of  his  readers  with  the  fact  that  the  pit  into  which 
Joseph  had  been  thrown  was  empty.  After  informing 
us  that  the  pit  was  empty,  he  goes  on  to  say  **  there  was 
no  water  in  it."  There  is,  I  apprehend,  a  deep  significa- 
tion in  his  words  which  ouglit  not  to  be  hurried  over  in 
silence.  Had  there  been  water  in  the  pit,  Joseph  might 
have  been  drowned,  and  in  that  case,  he  could  not  have 
been  a  type  of  Christ.  It  was  absolutely  necessary  that 
he  should  be  taken  out  of  the  pit  alive,  otherwise  his  de- 
liverance from  that  place  could  in  no  way  adumbrate  the 
rising  of  Christ  from  the  dead.  Had  he  perished  in  the 
pit,  his  body,  but  not  himself,  would  have  been  rescued ; 
whereas  it  was  indispensable  that  both  body  and  soul 
should  be  recovered  from  the  place  of  confinement,  or  the 
event  would  fail  to  represent  the  resurrection  of  Christ's 
soul  from  Hades,  and  that  of  His  body  from  the  grave. 
We  see,  then,  the  reasonableness  of  there  being  no  water 
in  the  pit ;  but  what  shall  we  say  in  reference  to  its 
emptiness  ?  Undoubtedly  the  emptiness  of  the  pit,  and 
its  being  put  upon  record,  is  designed  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  teach  us  the  desolate  condition  of  our  Saviour  while 
in  Hades,  His  temporary  ba,nishment  from  His  heavenly 
Father,  and  the  withholding  from  Him  all  Divine  assist" 
ance,  succor,  and  consolation  whatever.  In  fact,  the 
empty  pit  is  intended  to  show  that  Christ,  during  His 
short  abode  in  Hades,  was  forsaken  of  His  heavenly 
Father,  and  left  there  to  endure  the  wrath  of  God.  This 
view  will  receive  confirmation  fioni  other  passages  of 
Scripture  which  I  shall  now  adduce.  In  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Luke  (xxii.  3t,  44),  it  is  thus  wTitten :  ''  For  I  say 
unto  you,  that  this  that  is  written,  must  yet  be  accom- 
plished in  me.  And  he  was  reckoned  among  the  trans- 
gressors: for  the  things  concerning  me  have  an  end. 
And  being  in  an  agony,  he  prayed  more  earnestly:  and 
his  sweat  was  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood  falling 
down  to  the  ground;''  and  St.  Matthew  tells  us  (xxvi. 
38),  that  while  our  Lord  was  in  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  He  said  unto  Peter  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee, 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  121 

"  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death :  tarry 
ye  here,  and  watch  with  me." 

During  the  time  that  our  Blessed  Lord  was  in  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane,  His  distress  and  agony  of  soul 
were  so  great  that  an  Angel  from  heaven  was  sent  ex- 
pressly to  strengthen  Him.  This  event  transpired  only 
a  very  short  time  before  His  trial,  condemnation,  and 
crucifixion.  He  declared  that  His  soul  was  sorrowful 
even  unto  death.  What  could  possibly  be  the  cause  of 
such  a  state  of  soul  in  Christ  ?  Some  attribute  it  to  the 
fact  that  all  the  powers  of  darkness  or  hell  were  leagued 
together  at  that  particular  time,  and  brought  all  their 
diabolical  influence  to  bear  upon  the  soul  of  the  Re- 
deemer. This  view  is  not  sanctioned  by  Scripture,  but 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  contradicted  by  common  sense,  the 
principles  of  justfce,  and  the  Bible  itself.  St.  Paul  writes 
to  the  Corinthians  (I.  Cor.  x.  18)  these  words;  ''There 
hath  no  temptation  taken  you  but  such  as  is  common  to 
man :  but  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be 
tempted  above  that  ye  are  able ;  but  will  with  the  temp- 
tation also  make  a  way  to  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to 
bear  it.'^  And  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (iv.  15)  it 
is  expressly  declared,  that  Christ  "was  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin."  Now  if  our 
Blessed  Lord^  during  His  sojourn  on  the  earth,  was 
tempted  like  ourselves,  and  God  does  not  suffer  us  to  be 
tempted  above  what  we  are  able  to  bear,  we  may  con- 
clude that  the  temptations  to  which  the  Redeemer  was 
subjected  were  not  beyond  what  He  could  endure.  We 
may,  in  fact,  reasonably  infer  that  He  had  strength  given 
Him  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  and  intensity  of  His 
temptations.  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  impossible  to 
account  for  His  anguish  of  soul  by  supposing  that  He 
sustained  a  united  attack  from  all  the  powers  of  hell. 
This  state  of  soul  proceeded  from  another  and  deeper 
cause.  We  must  not,  however,  imagine  that  Christ  was 
alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  crucifixion,  for  in  that  case 
He  would  have  shown  far  less  courage  than  either  of  the 
two  thieves  who  died  with  Him.  They  met  their  lament- 
able fate  with  all  the  manliness  and  fortitude  conceivable, 


122  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES, 

while  on  the  part  of  the  Saviour  there  was  a  degree  of 
shrinking  and  horror  absolutely  unaccountable,  unless  we 
can  show  that  there  did  exist  another  ordeal  of  punish- 
ment through  which  He  had  to  pass  after  expiring  on 
Calvary.  It  was  the  gloomy  forebodings  of  the  anguish 
He  had  to  suffer  in  Hades  which  terrified  and  distressed 
His  righteous  soul.  To  this  ordeal  He  refers  in  these 
words :  '*  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with ;  and  how 
am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished"  (Luke  xii.  50). 
This  view  is  placed  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  by  the 
words  uttered  while  our  Lord  was  on  the  cross.  In  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel  (xxvii.  46)  we  thus  read:  ''And  about 
the  ninth  hour  (three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon),  Jesus 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabach- 
thani?  That  is  to  say,  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast 
Thou  forsaken  me  ?"  Up  to  the  time  these  words  were 
uttered  by  Christ,  He  gave  every  manifestation  of  calm- 
ness, satisfaction,  and  the  most  complete  resignation. 
While  hanging  upon  the  cross.  He  prayed  for  His  ene- 
mies, committed  His  own  mother  to  the  affectionate 
regard  of  His  beloved  disciple,  promised  the  penitent 
thief  that  he  should  be  removed  to  Paradise  on  the  day 
that  he  was  crucified ;  and  yet,  after  all  this  exhibition 
of  calmness  and  composure,  He  manifests  the  utmost  dis- 
tress, and  cries  out  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul,  ''My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me?"  This 
piercing  cry  emanated  from  that  Divine  person  who  had 
performed  the  most  stupendous  of  miracles,  who  had  pre- 
dicted His  own  death  with  all  the  leading  ciTcumstances, 
and  who  also  knew  its  exact  duration.  His  being  in  full 
possession  beforehand  of  all  the  facts  connected  with  the 
crucifixion,  He  could  not  have  met  with  anything  in  the 
shape  of  surprise  to  cause  such  agitation  of  soul.  The 
significancy  of  the  words  will  be  more  clearly  brought 
out  by  noting  the  precise  time  at  which  they  fell  from 
the  lips  of  Jesus.  We  are  told  by  the  Evangelist  thstt 
they  were  uttered  "  about  the  ninth  hour,"  and  therefore 
at  the  moment  when  Christ  was  passing  from  life  into 
death. 

Now  if,  as  is  so  generally  believed,  Christ  finished  the 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  123 

great  work  of  Redemption  by  His  death  upon  the  cross, 
how  can  we  account  for  such  language  emanating  from 
Him,  at  the  very  moment  when  His  sufferings  must  have 
been  on  the  point  of  termination,  and  when  triumph  and 
victory  were  all  but  obtained  ?  It  was  at  the  ninth  hour 
that  the  Saviour  uttered  the  words,  *'My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me  ?"  And  it  was  at  the  ninth 
hour  that  he  gave  up  the  ghost.  Are  these  thjngs  at  all 
compatible  with  the  belief  that  Christ's  sufferings  termi- 
nated on  the  accursed  tree  ?  Most  certainly  not.  His 
state  of  soul  on  that  occasion  can  only  be  accounted  for 
upon  the  supposition  that  He  was  conscious  of  having  to 
pass  through  a  state  of  suffering  and  anguish  far  more 
formidable  than  that  of  crucifixion.  And  what  could  this 
punishment  be  but  His  banishment  into  the  prison  of 
Hades,  among  the  wicked  dead,  where  He  was  for  a 
specified  time,  deprived  of  the  smile  of  His  heavenly 
Father,  and  forsaken  by  God  ?  If  the  damned  in  Hades 
are  forsaken  of  God,  or  banished  from  His  benign  pres- 
ence, how  was  it  possible  for  Christ,  as  the  substitute  for 
sinners,  to  escape  the  same  punishment  ?  To  assert  that 
Christ  was  a  substitute  for  sinners,  and  yet  to  deny  that 
He  suffered  the  punishment  in  their  stead,  is  simply  pre- 
posterous. 

Since  Christ  manifested  such  terror  and  anguish  at  the 
prospect  He  saw  before  Him,  it  may  be  asked  why  there 
was  no  such  exhibition  on  the  part  of  the  two  malefactors. 
I  answer,  that  one  thief  was  pardoned  before  his  death, 
and  conseqilently  he  had  no  such  punishment  to  undergo. 
Happiness  awaited  him.  He  entered  with  joy  upon  his 
intermediate  state.  As  regards  the  impenitent  thief,  we 
may  observe  that  if  he  was  not  an  infidel,  he  must  at 
least  have  been  unconscious  of  the  misery  awaiting  him, 
otherwise  his  demeanor  at  that  awful  time  would  have 
been  altogether  different. 


CHAPTER  XYIL 

Additional  passages  adduced  in  proof  of  Christ's  sufferings  in  Hades — 
Psalm  (cxvi.  3,  4)  shown  to  be  exclusively  applicable  to  Christ — If 
the  commonly  received  explanations  of  Isaiah  (liii.  9)  be  admitted,  a 
discrepancy  between  the  Prophet  and  the  Evangelist  (St.  Matthew) 
must  be  admitted — The  text  literally  translated  and  explained — The 
predictions,  ^'  He  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors,'*  and  "  He  made 
His  grave  with  the  wicked,"  were  literally  fulfilled  in  Christ's  death, 
the  former  while  undergoing  His  physical,  and  the  latter  while  suffer- 
ing His  spiritual  death. 

Although  sufficient  has  already  been  said  to  convince 
even  the  most  skeptical  of  men,  that  our'  Blessed  Lord 
must  have  been  in  a  state  of  suffering  during  the  time 
that  elapsed  between  His  death  and  resurrection,  yet  in 
order  that  the  fact  may  be  confirmed  by  the  most  indubi- 
table testimony,  I  shall  now  bring  foward  additional  texts 
which,  in  their  deeper  meaning,  must  be  regarded  as  ex- 
clusively applicable  to  Christ.  To  make  such  passages 
as  those  about  to  be  adduced  refer  only  to  the  inspired 
writers  by  whom  they  were  penned,  is  to  lose  sight  of  that 
special  significancy  designed  to  be  conveyed  by  the  Spirit 
of  God. 

That  our  Lord  was  actually  si/^erm^  in  Hades  is  dem- 
onstrated by  the  following  texts:  *'My  soul  is  full  of 
troubles,  and  my  life  draweth  nigh  unto  Hades :  I  am 
counted  with  them  that  go  down  into  the  pit;  I  am  as  a 
man  that  hath  no  strength.  Thou  hast  laid  me  in  the 
lowest  pit,  in  darkness,  in  the  deeps.  Thy  wrath  lieth 
hard  upon  mey  and  Thou  hast  afflicted  me  with  all  Thy 
waves.  I  am  shut  up  and  I  cannot  come  forth.  Wilt 
Thou  show  wonders  to  the  dead,  shall  the  dead  rise  and 
praise  Thee  ?"  (Ps.  Ixxxviii.)  And  in  Psalm  cxvi.  3,  4, 
we  have  these  remarkable  and  decisive  words:  ''The 
sorrows  of  death  compassed  me,  and  the  pains  of  Hades 
(124) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  125 

gat  hold  upon  me;  I  found  trouble  and  sorrow.  Then 
called  I  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  O  Lord,  I  beseech 
Thee,  deliver  my  soul." 

Now,  in  reference  to  the  preceding  quotations  from 
the  Psalmist,  I  would  just  put  the  following  question  to 
any  reasonable  man :  Can  such  language,  in  the  fullness 
of  its  meaning,  be  applied  to  any  one  upon  earth  ?  Is  it 
possible  for  the  ''sorrows  of  death''  to  compass  a  man, 
and  the  *' pains  of  Hades"  to  seize  him  so  long  as  he  con- 
tinues in  the  land  of  the  living  ?  Can  a  man  experience 
death  before  he  dies,  and  sufler  the  ''pangs  of  Hades" 
prior  to  his  entrance  into  that  invisible  region?  Surely 
not.  Let  it  be  distinctly  borne  in  mind  that  the  foregoing 
texts,  which  must  be  regarded  as^the  predictions  of  our 
Lord  in  the  person  of  the  Psalmist,  had  their  real  fulfill- 
ment in  Christ  and  in  no  other ;  and  any  attempt  to  as- 
cribe to  them  a  different  exposition  from  the  one  here 
given  may  be  regarded  as  the  result  of  preconceived  no- 
tions, or  as  an  indication  that  the  deep  significancy  of  the 
passages  has  been  entirely  overlooked.  Supposing,  how- 
ever, it  be  granted  that  the  awful  words  in  question  had 
exclusive  reference  to  a  man  on  the  earth,  we  are  bound 
to  admit  that  any  rational  explanation,  on  Scriptural 
grounds,  is  simply  an  impossibility.  Now  when  the  in- 
spired penman,  or  the  individual  to  whom  the  words 
refer,  declares  that  he  was  compassed  by  the  "  sorrows 
of  death,"  and  seized  by  the  "pains  of  Hades,"  his  lan- 
guage must  be  taken  either  in  a  figurative,  historical,  or 
prophetical  sense.  The  "  figurative"  sense  cannot  be  ad- 
mitted without  involving  the  writer  in  a  species  of  gross 
exaggeration  almcDrst  bordering  upon  profanity,  which  is 
absolutely  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  a  man  acting 
under  the  guidance  and  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Allowing  such  a  man  to  have  endured  the  most  acute  of 
human  sufferings,  he  would  under  no  circumstances  have 
been  justified  in  asserting  that  he  had  been  compassed 
by  the  "sorrows  of  death,"  and  seized  by  the  "pains  of 
Hades."  What  could  he,  as  a  living  man,  know  either 
of  the  one  or  the  other  ?  Another  objection  to  this  figura- 
tive sense  is  this,  it  positively  reduces  the  inspired  Book 


126  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

of  the  Psalms  to  a  level  with  ordinary  books.  It  is,  in 
fact,  explaining  away  the  real  import  of  the  sacred  pen- 
man's words,  or  tantamount  to  saying  that  they  have  no 
meaning  of  importance.  This  view  of  the  subject  will 
appear  evident  when  we  arrive  at  that  portion  of  our 
work  in  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  show  the  exact  sig- 
nification of  the  words  ''death  and  Hades." 

The  ''  historical"  sense  cannot  under  any  consideration 
be  accepted  as  true,  because  it  involves  a  palpable  con- 
tradiction by  representing  the  writer  as  having  passed 
from  life  into  death  before  he  died  ;  and  I  should  imagine 
there  are  very  few  whose  credulity  would  carry  them  so 
far  as  to  believe  in  such  an  impossibility  and  such  an  ab- 
surdity. It  is  also  doing  the  inspired  penman  a  great  in- 
justice in  attaching  a  meaning  to  his  words  which  he 
never  intended  to  convey. 

Should  the  ''prophetical"  sense  be  insisted  upon,  then 
it  will  follow  that  the  inspired  writer  was  predicting  the 
preliminary  stage  of  his  own  eternal  damnation !  There 
is  no  escaping  from  one  of  these  conclusions.  We  know 
it  to  be  the  uniform  doctrine  of  Scripture,  that  the  man 
who  experiences  the  pangs  of  Hades,  is  in  consequence  to 
suffer  the  torments  of  hell.  This  fact  will  account  for  St. 
John,  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  (xx.  6),  saying :  "  Blessed 
and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection  ;  on 
such  the  second  death  hath  no  power."  The  "second 
death"  spoken  of  in  the  text  denotes  the  everlasting  tor- 
ments of  hell,  and  it  is  called  the  "  second  death"  in  ref- 
erence to  the  first  death  which  takes  place  in  Hades. 
Then,  since  there  is  no  deliverance  for  a  man  who  has 
once  been  consigned  to  the  gloomy  regions  of  Hades,  and 
since  the  inspired  writer  in  question  was  delivered  from 
those  "sorrows  of  death,"  and  "pains  of  Hades,"  which 
he  is  said  to  have  suffered,  we  have,  therefore,  most  sat- 
isfactory proof  that  he  did  not,  in  his  own  person,  un- 
dergo either.  The  only  one  that  ever  suffered  the  "pains 
of  Hades,"  and  obtained  deliverance  therefrom,  was  Jesus 
Christ  It  was  He  and  He  alone  of  whom  the  declara- 
tion is  to  be  understood.  The  "  sorrows  of  death"  and 
the  "pains  of  Hades"  are  as  exclusively  applicable  to 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES,  127 

Christ  as  these  words :  ''  They  pierced  my  hands  and 
my  feet."  These  solemn  facts  are  also  proved  by  our 
Lord's  own  words  in  St.  Luke's  Grospel  (xxiv.  44),  where 
it  is  written:  ''All  things  must  be  fulfilled,  which  are 
written  in  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  in  the  Prophets,  and  in 
the  Psalms  concerning  me." 

The  next  testimony  from  Scripture  is  given  in  the  Book 
of  the  Prophet  Isaiah  (liii.  9),  where  it  is  written  :  ''  And 
He  made  His  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the  rich  in 
His  death  ;  because  He  had  done  no  violence,  neither 
was  any  deceit  in  his  mouth. "  According  to  these  words 
of  the  Prophet,  our  Lord  ''made  His  grave  with  the 
wicked  and  He  was  with  the  rich  in  His  death ;"  and  on 
turning  to  the  Gospel  narrative,  as  recorded  by  St. 
Matthew  (xxvii.  57,  58,  59,  60),  we  read  that  "  When  the 
even  was  come,  there  came  a  rich  man  of  Arimathea, 
named  Joseph,  who  also  himself  was  Jesus'  disciple.  He 
went  to  Pilate  and  begged  the  body  of  Jesus.  Then  Pi- 
late commanded  the  body  to  be  delivered.  And  when 
Joseph  had  taken  the  body,  he  wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen 
cloth,  and  laid  it  in  his  own  new  tomb,  which  he  had 
hewn  out  in  the  rock  :  and  he  rolled  a  great  stone  to  the 
door  of  the  sepulcher,  and  departed."  According  to  the 
common  view  of  these  passages,  we  are  compelled  to 
admit  that  there  exists  a  discrepancy  between  the  words 
of  the  Prophet  and  those  of  the  Evangelist.  It  would 
appear  that  Christ  ought  to  have  died  with  the  rich  man, 
and  have  been  interred  with  the  wicked ;  whereas  He  ex- 
pired before  either  of  the  two  thieves,  and  was  buried  in 
the  sepulcher  of  the  rich  man.  Thinking  people,  though 
willing  to  believe  that  the  commonly  received  view  is  cor- 
rect, nevertheless  feel  a  desire  to  see  some  solution  of 
what  they  cannot  avoid  regarding  as  a  difficulty,  and  they 
naturally  consult  the  works  of  some  eminent  Biblical  ex- 
positor in  which  they  expect  to  find  a  rational  explana- 
tion; Disappointment,  however,  too  often  awaits  them. 
This  will  appear  pretty  evident  by  quoting  what  the  best 
commentators  have  advanced  in  defense  of  their  notions 
as  to  the  import  of  the  words  of  the  Prophet.  The  fol- 
lowing explanation  of  the  text  under  investigation  is  from 


128  SCRTPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

the  Commentary  of  Bishop  Lowth,  which  I  quote  with- 
out any  remark  for  the  present : — 

''Some  render  the  words  thus:  'His  grave  was  ap- 
pointed with  the  wicked  (being  crucified  with  malefac- 
tors), but  He  was  with  the  rich  in  his  death,'  being  buried 
in  the  monument  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea;  or,  'His 
sepulcher  was  with  the  rich :'  so  Schindler  renders  the 
word  bemothau,  as  if  it  were  derived  from  bamah. 
Others  to  this  purpose  :  '  God  delivered  Him,  even  to  the 
grave  and  to  death,  into  the  hands  of  the  wicked  and  the 
powerful.'  The  word  rich  is  sometimes  taken,  in  an  ill 
sense,  for  a  tyrant  or  oppressor  (see  Job  xxvii.  19,  com- 
pared with  ver.  13)  :  and  so  they  understand  it  here,  and 
translate  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  thus  :  '  Not  for  any 
violence  that  He  had  done,  or  that  any  deceit  was  found 
in  His  mouth.'  The  very  same  Hebrew  particles,  nal  lOy 
being  thus  translated,  Job  xvi.  lY.  Or  else,  taking  these 
particles  in  that  sense,  we  may  very  well  join  this  sen- 
tence to  the  following  verse,  thus:  'Although  He  had 
done  no  wickedness,  neither  was  any  deceit  in  His  mouth, 
yet  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  Him.'  "  Another  mode 
adopted  for  reconciling  the  event  and  prophecy,  is  that  of 
Kennicott,  who  supposes  that  n^p  (his  grave),  and  rnD3 
bemothau  (in  his  death),  have  changed  places  either 
by  design  or  accident.  This  supposition  is  based  upon 
the  fact  that  he  has  proved  many  such  transpositions.  A 
third  plan  for  making  the  prophecy  and  the  event  agree, 
represents  that  the  Jews,  not  Grod,  intended  the  Redeemer 
to  be  buried  with  the  two  malefactors,  but  their  wicked 
designs  were  in  that  respect  thwarted  by  a  special  provi- 
dence, inasmuch  as  He  was  by  God's  will  interred  in  the 
grave  of  the  rich  man. 

Whether  the  views  here  propounded  by  these  commen- 
tators for  reconciling  the  prediction  with  the  event  will  be 
deemed  sufficiently  satisfactory  by  the  judicious  reader,  I 
cannot  say ;  but  for  my  own  part  I  must  declare  that, 
with  every  feeling  of  deference  to  those  learned  men,  I 
find  it  difficult  to  regard  their  attempts  at  reconciliation  as 
anything  better  than  weak  apologies  in  justification  of  the 
views  they  held  respecting  the  time  when  our  Lord's  suf- 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  129 

ferings  terminated.  It  was  the  opinion  of  Kennicott, 
as  already  intimated,  that  there  had  been  a  transposition 
of  the  words. ''His  grave"  and  'Mn  His  death,"  either  by 
accident  or  by  design  ;  and  if  such  were  the  fact,  the  text 
would  then  read  after  this  manner :  ''  He  made  His  grave 
with  the  rich  and  with  the  wicked  in  His  death."  This 
supposition  as  to  the  transposition  of  the  words  is  so  far 
from  removing  the  difficulty  that  it  increases  it  to  a  ten- 
fold degree,  for  it  involves  the  transposition  of  other 
words  also,  namely,  ''the  wicked"  and  ''the  rich,"  and 
still  leaves  the  requirements  of  the  former  unsatisfied. 
The  full  sense  of  the  text  would  still  be,  "And  He  made 
His  grave  with  the  rich,  and  He  made  His  grave  with 
the  wicked  in  His  death."  The  order  of  the  words  in  the 
LXX.  is  also  a  strong  argument  against  any  transposi- 
tion. In  that  version  the  words  are  :  Ka\  dwijoj  rohq 
Tzovr^pohq  a'^ri  ZTJg  Tacpi^q  abroo^  y.ai  rohq  TrXouffcooq  dvT\  too 
Oavdrou  abrov,  "  I  will  give  the  wicked  for  His  sepulcher, 
and  the  rich  for  His  death."  We  may  observe  that  the 
import  of  the  Hebrew  is  not  exactly  reflected  either  by 
our  Authorized  Version  or  by  the  Septuagint.  The 
words,  "And  He  made,"  are  rendered  in  the  latter  ver- 
sion, "  an^  I  will  give,"  which  seem  to  have  reference  to 
God  the  Father.  The  literal  translation  of  the  original  is, 
"And  He  appointed  His  grave  with  the  wicked,  and  with 
a  rich  man  in  His  deaths." 

The  words  requiring  our  attention  are  D';;tyi  the 
wicked;  TW};  a  rich  man  ;  and  vnn:}  in  his  deaths. 

The  exact  meaning  of  this  prophecy  will  be  efiTectually 
brought  out  only  by  attending  to  each  particular  point 
contained  therein.  The  Prophet  tells  us  that  "  our  Lord 
made  His  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the  rich  in  His 
death."  This  is  a  straightforward  declaration,  and  con- 
tains nothing  enigmatical  so  far  as  I  can  judge.  The 
only  question  to  be  settled  is  this  :  When  did  the  burial 
take  place  ?  Well,  His  grave  must  have  been  made  with 
the  wicked  and  with  the  rich  man,  either  before  He  died, 
or  after  He  was  dead.  It  would  be  simply  impossible 
for  the  events  to  transpire  before  He  died,  otherwise  He 
must   have  been  buried   while  He  wa^  living;  but  we 

9 


130  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

know  from  the  Gospel  narrative  that  His  burial  was  sub- 
sequent to  His  death.  The  natural  conclusion,  therefore, 
from  the  Prophet's  words  is  this :  Our  Lord  ''  made  His 
grave  with  the  wicked,  and  with  the  rich  man  after  He 
was  dead."  Let  there  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  time  when 
these  events  were  fulfilled.  They  came  to  pass  after  our 
Redeemer  had  suffered  the  agonies  of  crucifixion.  This 
startling  fact  will,  in  all  probability,  present  a  great  diffi- 
culty to  many  minds,  and  we  shall  be  asked,  how  it  was 
possible  to  make  his  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the 
rich,  unless  both  characters  were  united  in  the  one  man, 
Joseph  of  Arimathea.  Joseph  was  a  rich,  but  not  a 
wicked  man,  and,  therefore,  the  words  of  the  prophecy 
are  not  exclusively  applicable  to  him.  We  are  driven 
then  to  search  for  a  more  satisfactory  explanation  before 
we  can  show  that  the  prediction  has  received  a  literal 
fulfillment. 

Now,  the  original  word  for  "wicked"  is  in  ihQ plural 
number ;  that  for  rich  is  in  the  singular ;  and  the  word 
^ov  death  is  also  in  the  plural;  and  correctly  and  literally 
translated  the  verse  would  read  after  this  manner  :  ''And 
He  made  His  grave  with  wicked  men,  and  with  a  rich 
man  in  His  deaths,^^  that  is,  during  the  time  th'at  He  was 
in  the  state  of  death.  This  prophecy  is  stamped  with  a 
minuteness  and  degree  of  accuracy  that  are  truly  aston- 
ishing; and  we  may  rest  fully  assured  that  these  singular 
and  plural  numbers  are  not  employed  without  special 
reasons.  The  fact  of  Christ,  while  under  the  dominion 
of  death,  being  with  wicked  men  and  with  "  a  rich  man" 
is  brought  prominently  forward  by  the  words,  "  in  His 
deaths."  Some  of  my  readers  may  be  surprised  to  find 
that  "  deaths"  are  applied  to  one  man,  but  notwithstand- 
ing the  apparent  inconsistency,  there  is  embodied  therein 
a  philosophical  truth.  It  is  said  in  the  prediction  that 
*'  our  Lord  made  His  grave  with  the  wicked,  and  with  a 
rich  man  in  His  deaths,"  because  He  was  compelled  to 
pass  through  a  double  ordeal,  one  of  which  He  experienced 
in  this  world,  and  one  in  the  next  world.  He  suffered  two 
deaths,  one  being  His  physical  death  on  Calvary,  and  the 
other  the  spiritual  death  He  endured  in  Hades.    The  suf- 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  131 

ferings  of  Hades  may  be  considered  as  the  first  death  in 
the  next  world,  that  is,  the  death  that  first  takes  place 
after  the  physical  death.  The  word  ''  wicked'^  can  only 
mean  the  separate  souls  of  men  in  Hades  and  the  rich 
man,  Joseph  of  Arimathea.  By  His  grave,  then  being 
made,  or  appointed,  with  the  wicked,  we  are  to  understand 
that  the  soul  of  our  Redeemer  was  entombed  among  the 
wicked  spirits  in  Hades,  which  served  as  a  grave  or 
sepulcher  for  the  temporary  confinement  of  His  spirit 
during  its  disembodied  state.  On  this  account  the  word 
wicked  is  put  in  the  plural  number.  By  His  grave  being 
made  with  the  rich  man  in  His  death,  is  meant  that  our 
Lord's  dead  body — the  effect  of  His  physical  death — was  • 
to  be  interred  in  ground  belonging  to  a  rich  man.  This 
was  accurately  fulfilled  as  we  learn  from  the  Gospel  his- 
tory. The  term  deaths  is  applied  to  our  Saviour  with 
great  accuracy  and  propriety.  His  death  was  of  a  two- 
fold character.  One  took  place  in  this  world,  and  one  in 
the  world  beyond  the  grave.  One  relates  to  His  physical 
death  which  he  suffered  on  Calvary  ;  the  other  to  the 
death  in  Hades,  regarded  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  as 
the  first  death.  His  dead  body  was  deposited  in  the 
sepulcher  of  the  rich  man,  and  His  soul  in  its  separate 
state  was  entombed  among  the  departed  dead  in  the 
prison  of  Hades.  This,  then,  I  beg  to  submit  to  the 
reader  as  a  truthful  exposition  of  the  prophecy  in  Isaiah, 
namely,  ''He  made  His  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with 
the  rich  in  His  death."  This  explanation  requires  one  to 
assume  nothing,  nor  to  take  anything  for  granted,  but 
enables  us  to  demonstrate  the  most  complete  agreement 
between  the  declarations  of  the  Prophet  and  those  of  the 
Evangelists ;  while  it  indicates  an  accuracy  of  statement 
and  a  minuteness  of  detail  which  ought  to  bring  convic- 
tion to  the  minds  of  the  most  wavering  skeptics. 

Before  leaving  this  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  we  may 
remark  that  the  word  translated  wicked  in  the  ninth  verse 
is  not  the  same  as  that  found  in  the  twelfth  verse,  which 
is  very  properly  rendered  transgressors.  The  former  is  a 
much  stronger  term,  being  so  indicated  both  in  the  original 
Hebrew  and  in  the  Septuagint,  which  clearly  shows  that 


132  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

the  writers  did  not  use  the  two  expresssions  of  the  same 
persons.  It  is  evident  from  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  (xv. 
28)  that  the  words  (verse  12),  '^  He  was  numbered  with 
the  transgressors,"  refer  exclusively  to  Christ  while  hang- 
ing on  the  cross  in  company  with  the  thieves ;  whereas 
the  word  wicked  in  the  ninth  verse  is  applicable  only  to 
the  wicked  dead  in  Hades.  The  Septuagint  has  given  us 
the  word  Tro^Tjpoh^  for  the  wicked,  an  epithet  which  we 
find  (Matt.  xiii.  1 9)  applied  to  the  Devil,  thus :  ''  When 
any  one  heareth  the  word  of  the  kingdom,  and  under- 
standeth  it  not,  then  cometh  the  wicked  one  (o  Tzovrjpdq) 
and  catcheth  away  that  which  was  sown  in  his  heart.'' 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

Jonah  ii.  1-4  explained — A  remarkable  event  in  the  life  of  Jonah  typical 
of  our  Lord's  suffering  in  Hades — The  event  referred  to  by  Christ 
Himself — The  leading  points  of  resemblance  between  the  type  and  the 
antitype — The  important  lessons  thereby  taught — The  passage  in 
Jonah  shown  to  refer  exclusively  to  Christ — The  notion  that  the 
Prophet  being  in  the  belly  of  the  fish  represented  our  Lord's  dead 
body  in  the  grave  refuted — The  deliverance  of  the  Israelites  from  the 
bondage  of  Egypt  preceded  by  three  days'  darkness — The  salvation 
of  the  world  the  result  of  our  Lord's  sojourn  in  Hades — Import  of  the 
three  hours'  darkness  at  the  crucifixion — Reasons  why  so  many  have 
been  led  to  believe  the  work  of  the  atonement  was  finished  on  the 
cross — No  allusion  to  Redemption  in  the  words  "It  is  finished" — Why 
Christ  could  not,  and  did  not,  refer  to  the  atonement  when  He  said, 
"  It  is  finished." 

Another  remarkable  portion  of  Scripture  which  was 
evidently  designed  to  set  forth  the  punishment  endured 
by  the  Redeemer  in  the  nether  world,  will  be  found  in  the 
Book  of  the  Prophet  Jonah  (ii.  1-4),  where  the  inspired 
writer  speaks  after  this  manner :  *'  Then  Jonah  prayed 
unto  the  Lord  his  God  out  of  the  fish's  belly,  and  said,  I 
cried  by  reason  of  mine  affliction  unto  the  Lord,  and  He 
heard  me ;  out  of  the  belly  of  Hades  cried  I,  and  Thou 
heardest  my  voice.  For  Thou  hadst  cast  me  into  the 
deep,  in  the  midst  of  the  seas  :  and  the  floods  compassed 
me  about :  all  Thy  billows  and  Thy  waves  passed  over 
me.  Then  I  said  I  am  cast  out  of  Thy  sight :  yet  I  will 
look  again  toward  Thy  holy  temple." 

The  typical  character  of  this  singular  event  in  the  life 
of  the  Prophet  Jonah  is  placed  beyond  any  doubt  by  the 
declaration  of  our  Blessed  Lord  as  recorded  in  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Matthew  (xii.  40),  where  we  thus  read  ;  "  For  as 
Jonas  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  whale's 
belly :  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth." 

(133) 


134  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

It  will  now  be  our  duty  to  point  out,  in  as  clear  a  man- 
ner as  we  can,  the  exact  points  of  resemblance  which  are 
most  certainly  indicated  by  such  an  extrordinary  event  in 
the  life  of  Jonah.  The  prophet  had  been  instructed  by 
God  to  go  to  Xineveh  in  order  to  warn  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  that  they  would  be  destroyed  within  forty  days, 
unless  they  repented  of  their  wicked  ways ;  but  instead 
of  his  being  obedient  to  the  Divine  command,  he  arose 
and  embarked  in  a  ship  which  was  bound  for  Tarshish. 
He  paid  his  fare,  and,  consequently,  everything  appeared, 
from  a  human  point  of  view,  to  be  perfectly  satisfactory. 
As  soon,  however,  as  the  vessel,  in  which  he  had  so 
rashly  embarked,  had  sailed  some  distance  into  the  sea, 
the  finger  of  God  became  visible,  and  terrible  consequences 
ensued.  The  Almighty  caused  a  strong  tempest  to 
rise  on  the  ocean,  and  the  violence  of  the  waters  be- 
came so  great  that  the  ship  was  on  the  point  of  being 
dashed  to  pieces.  In  this  state  of  confusion  and  terror 
the  mariners,  wishful  to  save  Jonah  and  themselves, 
rowed  hard  in  order  to  bring  the  vessel  to  land,  but  all 
their  efforts  were  in  vain.  Being  anxious  to  learn  the 
cause  of  their  distress,  they  proceeded  to  cast  lots  for  the 
purpose  of  discovering  the  offender,  and  the  lot  fell  upon 
Jonah.  The  prophet  did  not  attempt  to  deny  his  disobe- 
dience toward  God,  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  a  very 
straightforward  manner  told  the  mariners  that  he,  in  con- 
sequence of  not  obeying  the  Divine  injunction,  had  been 
the  cause  of  the  tempest,  and  assured  them  that  there 
would  be  no  cessation  of  the  tumultuous  state  of  the 
ocean  until  they  h*ad  taken  him  and  cast  him  into  the  sea. 
Fearing  that  his  blood  would  be  required  at  their  hands, 
they  adopted  every  measure  conceivable  to  bring  the 
vessel  to  land.  On  perceiving  that  the  more  they  exerted 
themselves  to  accomplish  that  object,  the  more  tempestu- 
ous the  ocean  became,  they  at  last  complied  with  Jonah's 
request  and  cast  him  forth  into  the  sea,  and  immediately 
the  waters  ceased  from  their  raging. 

Let  us  now  enumerate  some  of  the  leading  points  of 
resemblance  between  the  type  and  the  antitype. 

(1)  The   mighty  tempest  was  designed  to  represent 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  135 

God^s  wrath  against  sin,  and  His  determination  to  have  it 
expiated  on  the  principle  of  justice  ;  (2)  The  hard  rowing 
of  the  crew  in  order  to  save  their  own  lives  and  that  of 
the  prophet  proving  a  failure,  indicates  the  futility  of  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  man  to  procure  salvation  merely 
by  his  own  works  or  deservings ;  (3)  The  more  the  mari- 
ners exerted  themselves  to  secure  their  safety,  the  more 
violent  the  storm  became,  and  by  this  fact  we  are  taught 
that  the  anger  of  the  Almighty  is  increased  against  those 
whose  presumption  leads  them  to  reject  salvation  on  the 
terms  propounded  by  Himself,  and  try  to  get  to  heaven 
in  their  own  way;  (4)  The  casting  of  Jonah  into  the 
deep,  and  his  incarceration  for  a  short  time  within  the 
viscera  of  the  fish,  prefigured  the  descent  of  Christ  into 
Hades  and  His  temporary  imprisonment  there;  (5)  The 
throwing  of  the  pi:ophet  overboard  into  the  sea  was  the 
salvation  of  the  crew,  so  the  going  down  of  our  Lord  into 
Hades  and  His  suffering  there  was  the  salvation  of  the 
world ;  (6)  The  assuaging  of  the  waters  immediately 
after  the  ejection  of  Jonah  from  the  vessel  demonstrated 
'  that  the  indignation  of  Jehovah  was  appeased  by  the 
descent  of  Christ  among  the  wicked  dead ;  (7)  The 
prophet's  rescue  from  the  jaws  of  the  fish  and  his  com- 
plete restoration  to  dry  ground,  foreshadowed  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ  from  the  prison  of  Hades  and  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  atonement  He  then  and  there  made  ;  (8) 
The  anguish  endured  by  Christ  while  in  the  unseen  world 
is  sufficiently  indicated  by  Jonah's  wretched  and  misera- 
ble condition  within  the  belly  of  a  fish.  This  fact  speaks 
for  itself.  Hence,  just  as  Jonah  was  three  days  and 
three  nights  alive  in  the  whale's  belly  praying  to  God  for 
deliverance,  so  in  like  manner  was  our  Redeemer  in  the 
prison  of  Hades  crying  aloud  in  supplication  to  His 
Father.  For  He  says,  "•  I  cried  by  reason  of  my  affliction 
unto  the  Lord,  and  He  heard  me.  Out  of  the  helly  of 
Hades  cried  I,  and  Thou  heardest  my  voice." 

This  crying  out  of  the  ''belly  of  Hades  ''  is  to  be  under- 
stood exclusively  of  Christ.  To  speak  of  the  belly  of  a 
fish  as  being  Hades  is  nothing  short  of  solemn  mockery. 
To  cry  out  of  the  "•  belly  of  Hades  "  necessarily  presup- 


136  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

poses  that  the  individual  thus  suffering  was  in  that  very 
region  whence  such  cry  proceeded.  To  assert  that  a  man 
cried  out  of  the  ''  belly  of  Hades,"  and  at  the  same  time 
to  deny  that  he  was  ever  in  Hades,  is  a  palpable  contra- 
diction. Had  Jonah  ever  had  the  misfortune  to  find  him- 
self in  such  a  prison,  he  would  have  learnt,  by  bitter  ex- 
perience, that  between  him  and  any  better  place  there 
was  a  ^'  great  gulf  fixed,"  which  rendered  any  ameliora- 
tion of  his  condition  impossible.  It  is  the  irrevocable 
decree  of  Almighty  God  that  those  who  are  lost  in  the 
next  world,  are  lost  forever.  The  prophet  was  still  on 
this  side  the  Jordan  of  death  and  confined  within  the 
narrow  compass  of  the  internal  organs  of  a  sea  monster. 
And  here  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  another  opinion  on 
this  subject,  namely,  that  Jonah's  confinement  in  the 
whale's  belly  was  designed  to  foreshadow  our  Lord's 
body  in  the  grave.  This  view  is  altogether  erroneous, 
for  in  what  respect  could  the  tomb  of  Joseph  of  Arama- 
thea  be  considered  the  ''  heart  of  the  earth  ?"  What  was 
to  be  in  the  "  heart  of  the  earth  ?"  Was  it  the  body  of 
the  Son  of  man,  or  the  Son  of  man  /itwseZ/that  was  to 
be  in  the  "  heart  of  the  earth  ?"  Surely  the  latter.  To 
suppose  that  our  Lord  referred  to  His  co7yse  when  He 
declared  that  the  Son  of  man  should  be  in  the  "heart  of 
the  earth, '^  is  to  suppose  that  He  made  the  burial  of  His 
mortal  remains  more  prominent  in  signification  than  His 
death.  Again,  Jonah  was  alive  and  suffering  in  the 
belly  of  the  fish,  neither  of  which  could  be  affirmed  of  our 
Lord's  dead  body ;  but  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  the 
disembodied  soul  of  the  Redeemer  was  enduring  anguish 
in  Hades  the  same  length  of  time  that  the  prophet  was  in 
agony  in  the  viscera  of  the  fish,  we  are  immediately  con- 
vinced how  accurately  the  one  solemn  event  is  adumbrated 
by  the  other. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  three  days'  darkness, 
which  preceded  the  deliverance  of  the  children  of  Israel 
from  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  was  intended  not  only  to 
afford  the  Israelites  an  opportunity  for  making  all  the 
necessary  preparations  for  their  final  departure  from  that 
land  of  slavery,  but  also  to  shadow  forth  the  time  during 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  137 

which  our  Divine  Master  was  to  be  in-  Hades.  For  as 
the  darkness  of  Egypt  was  followed  by  the  release  of  the 
captives,  so  were  mankind  delivered  from  the  bondage  of 
sin  and  Satan  by  the  descent  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
from  Hades.  The  three  hours'  darkness  too  at  the  time 
of  the  crucifixion  w^ould  seem  to  have  been  designed  to 
impress  upon  our  minds  the  same  great  fact,  and  to  indi- 
cate to  us  the  sad  and  darkened  condition  of  the  whole 
world  without  a  Saviour. 

We  must  now  -inquire  into  the  grounds  of  it  being  so 
generally  believed  that  the  sufferings  of  the  Redeemer 
actually  terminated  on  the  cross.  This  almost  universal 
breed  may  be  traced  more  particularly  to  one  or  two  texts 
of  Scripture  ;  but  that  upon  which  the  greatest  stress  has 
always  been  laid  is  a  short  sentence,  which  was  uttered 
by  the  Redeemer  a  few  moments  prior  to  His  giving  up 
the  ghost,  and  it  is  most  familiar  to  the  ears  of  every 
Christian,  namely.  It  is  finished.  When  we  really  take 
into  consideration  the  precise  time  that  these  words  were 
spoken,  the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  spoken, 
and  also  the  expiring  state  of  that  spotless  victim  from 
whom  they  emanated,  we  can  very  readily  understand 
how  natural  it  would  be  to  conclude  that  the  sufferings 
of  the  Messiah  had  reached  their  climax,  and  that  He 
through  them  had  paid  the  full  penalty  for  the  sins  of 
mankind.  This  view  too  would,  at  first  sight,  appear  to 
be  amply  confirmed  by  the  Jewish  animal  sacrifices, 
which  could  of  course  only  die  a  physical  death.  The 
Jews  also  being  forbidden  to  eat  the  blood  of  the  victims 
slain  in  sacrifice  could  only  tend  to  the  same  conclusion. 
The  error  in  supposing  that  Christ  completed  the  atone- 
ment on  Calvary  can  only  be  detected  by  going  into  the 
nature  of  that  expiation  which  the  justice  of  God  de- 
manded ;  and  this  must  be  effected  by  digging  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  Bible,  and  penetrating  into  the  typical 
import  of  those  sacrifices  which  Jehovah  Himself  ap- 
pointed to  be  observed  under  the  Mosaic  Dispensation  ; 
and  by  unfolding  those  prophecies  concerning  the  Saviour 
which  were  penned  by  holy  men  of  old  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God.     The  true  import 


138  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES. 

of  the  words  "  It  is  finished"  will  be  more  easily  dis- 
cerned by  quoting  the  whole  passage  in  which  they  occur. 
It  is  thus  written  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  (xix.  28,  29, 
30)  :  "  After  this,  Jesus  knowing  that  all  things  were 
now  accomplished,  that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled, 
saith,  I  thirst.  jSTow  there  was  set  a  vessel  full  of  vin- 
egar :  and  they  filled  a  sponge  with  vinegar,  and  put  it 
upon  hyssop,  and  put  it  to  His.  mouth.  When  Jesus 
therefore  had  received  the  vinegar.  He  said.  It  is  finished  : 
and  He  bowed  His  head,  and  gave  up  the  Ghost." 

So  far  from  there  being  any  ground  for  supposing  that 
our  Lord  intended  by  the  words  ''It  is  finished,", to  sig- 
nify the  accomplishment  of  human  redemption,  I  think* 
we  may  fairly  question  whether  He  even  made  allusion 
to  it.  Bearing  in  mind  the  declarations  of  St.  Paul 
(Rom.  vi.  23),  where  it  is  written,  "  The  wages  of  sin  is 
death  ;"  and  (Heb.  ix.  22)  that  ''  Without  the  shedding  of 
blood  there  is  no  remission"  (of  sins),  and  not  forgetting 
that  our  Saviour  was  still  living  when  He  uttered  the 
words  under  consideration,  we  can  scarcely  imagine  for 
an  instant  that  He  referred  to  the  atonement.  Even 
granting  that  expiation  for  sin  was  to  be  made  by  a 
physical  death,  still  it  could  not  be  truthfully  affirmed 
that  that  great  work  was  finished  so  long  as  no  death 
whatever  had  actually  taken  place.  Then,  since  our 
Blessed  Lord  said,  "  It  is  finished,"  before  He  was  dead, 
and  since  there  is  no  remission  of  sins  without  the 
"shedding  of  blood,"  or  the  taking  away  of  life,  it  is 
manifest  that  He  never  intended  to  convey  the  notion 
that  the  great  work  of  expiation  was  accomplished  and 
full  satisfaction  made  for  man's  transgression. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  words  "  It  is  finished"  could  not  refer  to  the  fulfillment  of  every 
prediction  and  typical  representation  respecting  the  atonement — The 
predictions  of  Christ  divided  into  two  classes — Prophecies  fulfilled 
during  His  agonies  on  the  cross — Prophecies  fulfilled  subsequent  to 
His  crucifixion  and  resurrection — The  fulfillment  of  the  latter  proph- 
ecies absolutely  necessary  for  man's  redemption — The  word  *'  It"  in 
the  passage  "It  is  finisfted"  shown  not  to  refer  to  the  work  of  Re- 
demption, but  to  the  fulfillment  of  a  particular  prophecy  uttered  by 
the  Psalmist — John  xvii.  4,  explained — The  works  wrought  by  Christ 
before  His  crucifixion — The  importance  of  distinguishing  between 
things  done  by  Christ  and  to  Christ — Granting  the  atonement  to  have 
been  completed  on  the  cross,  great  difl&culties  present  themselves — If 
the  cardinal  doctrine  of  substitution  be  maintained,  a  belief  in  a  full 
expiation  for  original  and  actual  sins  by  physical  death  must  be 
abandoned — Physical  death  either  a  consequence  of  man's  disobedi- 
ence, or  it  is  not — If  not  a  consequence,  then  death  must  have  been 
engendered  in  Adam  at  his  creation — If  Christ  made  full  satisfaction 
for  all  the  consequences  of  man's  disobedience,  how  is  it  that  death 
has  still  dominion  over  us  ? — If  Christ  died  to  deliver  us  from  spiritual 
death  only,  then  our  redemption  is  but  partial — Certain  inferences. 

In  order  to  show  most  emphatically  that  our  Lord  in 
no  way  implied  that  every  prediction  and  typical  repre- 
sentation respecting  Him  had  been  fulfilled  when  He 
gave  utterance  to  the  words  *'  It  is  finished,"  we  may 
observe  that  there  were  several  other  distinct  prophecies 
in  the  Old  Testament  concerning  Him  which  could  only 
be  fulfilled  after  His  death  upon  the  cross.  The  predic- 
tions in  reference  to  the  Messiah  and  the  great  work  He 
came  upon  earth  to  accomplish,  may  be  conveniently  di- 
vided into  those  which  were  to  be  fulfilled  by  Him  or  in 
Him  prior  to  His  death  on  the  cross,  and  those  which 
referred  to  Him  after  that  event.  By  bringing  before  the 
mind  of  the  reader  in  this  manner  the  ancient  prophecies, 
we  shall  best  succeed  in  convincing  him  how  little  ground 
there  is  for  supposing  that  the  saying  of  Christ  on  the 

(139) 


140  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

accursed  tree  intimated  the  finished  work  of  the  atone- 
ment. That  Christ  was  to  assume  human  nature  and  be 
born  of  a  virgin,  we  find  predicted  in  the  Book  of  the 
Prophet  Isaiah  (vii.  14),  where  it  is  thus  written  :  ''  Be- 
hold, a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  bear  a  son,  and  shall 
call  His  name  Immanuel.^'  That  He  was  to  be  not 
only  man  but  also  God  is  likewise  taught  by  the  same 
prophet,  whose  words  (ix.  6)  are  these  ;  ''  For  unto  us  a 
Child  is  born,  unto  us  a  Son  is  given :  and  the  govern- 
ment shall  be  upon  His  shoulder ;  and  His  name  shall 
be  called  Wonderful,  Counselor,  The  Mighty  God,  The 
Everlasting  Father,  The  Prince  of  Peace."  That  the 
Redeemer  was  to  die  an  ignominious  death  in  company 
with  malefactors  is  clearly  pointed  out  too  by  Isaiah 
(liii.  12),  where  the  word  of  God  speaks  to  this  purpose : 
''  Therefore  will  I  divide  Him  a  portion  with  the  great, 
and  He  shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong;  because 
He  hath  poured  out  His  soul  unto  death ;  and  He  was 
numbered  with  the  transgressors  ;  and  He  bare  the  sin 
of  many,  and  made  intercession  for  the  transgressors." 
The  kind  of  death  through  which  the  Saviour  had  to  pass 
was  intimated  in  the  Book  of  Numbers  (xxi.  8,  9),  for 
it  is  there  written:  ''And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
Make  thee  a  fiery  serpent,  and  set  it  upon  a  pole :  and  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  one  that  is  bitten,  when  he 
looketh  upon  it,  shall  live.  And  Moses  made  a  serpent 
of  brass,  and  put  it  upon  a  pole,  and  it  came  to  pass,  that 
if  a  serpent  had  bitten  any  man,  when  he  beheld  the  ser- 
pent of  brass,  he  lived."  In  the  Book  of  Psalms  (xxii. 
16)  we  have  these  words:  ''  They  pierced  my  hands  and 
my  feet."  That  the  preceding  texts  had  reference  to  the 
sort  of  death  our  Lord  was  to  suSfer  is  demonstrated  by 
what  we  read  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  (iii.  14,  15)  thus : 
''  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even 
so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up :  that  whosoever 
belie veth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life." 
It  is  evident  that  these  prophecies  and  others  which  might 
be  mentioned,  were  fulfilled  either  before  Christ  expired 
on  the  cross,  or  were  accomplished  by  that  solemn  event. 
We  must  now  pass  on  to  notice  some  of  those  predictions 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  HI 

which  had  still  to  be  fulfilled,  not  only  after  His  cruci- 
fixion, but  even  subsequent  to  His  resurrection.  It  was, 
for  instance,  foretold  (Ex.  xii.  46,  compared  with  St. 
John  xix.  36)  that  ''Not  a  bone  of  the  Saviour  was  to  be 
broken,"  and  we  learn  that  this  prophecy  did  not  receive 
its  fulfillment  till  after  the  Redeemer  had  given  up  the 
ghost.  His  being  found  dead  precluded  the  necessity  of 
breaking  His  bones,  and  hence  the  fulfillment  of  the  pre- 
diction did  not  really  take  place  till  after  our  Lord's  death. 
Again,  in  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Zechariah  (xii.  10) 
we  find  it  thus  written :  "  They  shall  look  upon  me  whom 
they  have  pierced ;"  and  St.  John  in  his  Gospel  (xix.  37) 
gives  us  to  understand  that  the  portion  of  the  prediction 
relating  to  the  ^' piercing''^  was  fulfilled  when  one  of  the 
soldiers  '*  pierced"  the  side  of  Jesus  after  He  was  dead. 
The  prophecy  too  that  announced  (Isa.  liii.  9)  our  Lord's 
interment  with  the  rich  man  still  remained  unfulfilled. 
In  the  Book  of  Psalms  (xvi.  9,  10)  we  find  our  Lord's 
resurrection  thus  spoken  of  by  Himself,  and  in  this  resur- 
rection both  body  and  soul  are  included  :  ''  Therefore  my 
heart  is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth  :  my  flesh  also  shall 
rest  in  hope.  For  Thou  wilt  not  leave  ray  soul  in  Hades  ; 
neither  wilt  Thou  suffer  Thine  Holy  One  to  see  corrup- 
tion." It  is  manifest  then  that,  among  other  prophecies 
awaiting  their  accomplishment  when  our  Saviour  said, 
''It  is  finished,"  we  may  mention  those  whose  fulfillment 
were  absolutely  necessary  for  man's  redemption :  (1) 
His  resurrection  (Acts  ii.  29-32) ;  (2)  His  ascension  (Ps. 
Ixviii.  18) ;  (3)  His  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God  (Ps. 
ex.  1).  Had  our  Blessed  Lord  not  risen  again  for  our 
justification,  it  would  have  been  useless  for  Him  to  die 
for  our  sins.  St.  Paul  tells  us  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  (xv.  IT,  18)  that  "  If  Christ  be  not  raised 
our  faith  is  vain ;  we  are  yet  in  our  sins.  Then  they  also 
which  are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  are  perished,"  How  then 
was  it  possible  for  our  Lord  either  to  say  or  imply  that 
everything  connected  with  our  redemption  was  finished, 
when  so  many  important  and  essential  predictions  were 
still  unfulfilled  ?  Then  what  did  our  Lord  mean  by  say- 
ing "  It  is  finished  ?"     In  St.  John's  Gospel  (xix.  28)  we 


142  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

thus  read  :  ''After  this,  Jesus  knowing  that  all  things 
were  now  accomplished,  that  the  Scripture  might  be  ful- 
filled, saith,  I  thirst.'^  Now  "  all  things"  here  spoken  of 
can  only  be  understood  as  denoting  those  predictions 
which  had  special  reference  to  the  Redeemer  as  a  living 
man.  They  had  all  been  fulfilled  up  to  that  particular 
point  of  time  in  His  earthly  career,  with  one  solitary  ex- 
ception, namely,  the  prophecy  that  foretold  the  giving  of 
vinegar  to  Him.  And  in  order  that  that  prediction,  found 
in  the  Book  of  Psalms  (Ixix.  21),  and  expressed  in  these 
w^ords,  ''  They  gave  me  also  gall  for  my  meat,  and  in  my 
thirst  they  gave  me  vinegar  to  drink,"  might  be  fulfilled, 
Jesus  saith,  "I  .thirst."  Having  received  the  vinegar, 
and  knowing  that  every  prophecy  which  concerned  Him 
as  a  living  and  dying  man  had  now  been  accomplished, 
our  Divine  Master  uttered  the  parting  words,  *' It  is 
finished,"  or  rather,  ''  It  is  fulfilled."  What  was  fulfilled? 
We  answer,  that  Scripture  or  verse  in  the  Sixty-ninth 
Psalm,  which  declared  that  *'  in  His  thirst  they  gave  Him 
vinegar  to  drink."  What  can  be  the  subject  to  the  verb 
''is  finished?"  We  shall  of  course  be  told  the  pronoun 
" it;"  but  to  what  noun  does  the  "  it"  refer  ?  The  refer- 
ence must  be  to  ^  yp^-^^,  meaning  that  particular  Scrip- 
ture which  awaited  its  accomplishment.  When  ypa^pri  is 
in  the  singular,  it  mostly  has  reference  to  a  special  text 
or  passage.  In  St.  John's  Gospel  (xix  36)  the  inspired 
penman  makes  this  declaration  :  "  For  these  things  were 
done  (meaning  the  soldiers  did  not  break  the  legs  of 
Christ),  that  the  Scripture  should  be  fulfilled,  A  bone  of 
Him  shall  not  be  broken."  Now  let  it  be  carefully  noted 
that  -q  Ypa(prj  (the  Scripture),  in  the  verse  under  consider- 
ation, which  was  to  be  fulfilled,  can  only  refer  to  this 
prophecy  :  "  A  bone  of  Him  shall  not  be  broken."  And 
in  like  manner  does  the  word  ypo-tprj  (Scripture),  found  in 
St.  John's  Gospel  (xix.  28),  point  exclusively  to  the  single 
prediction  contained  in  Psalm  Sixty-nine,  which  foretold 
the  giving  of  gall  and  vinegar  to  the  Redeemer  while  He 
was  suspended  on  the  cross. 

On  a  previous  occasion  our  Lord  is  said  (John  xvii.  4) 
to  have  uttered  these  words  :    "  I  have  glorified  Thee  on 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OFMAli^^.  H^^h  ^_ 

the  earth:    I  have  finished  the  work  whi^h^^Ji^^  gavest  ^   j 

me  to  do.''  The  work  here  spoken  of  as  being  finished  "^^ 
hj  our  Saviour  mainly  consisted  in  the  teaching  of  Sfe'" 
disciples,  the  propounding  of  doctrines  concerning  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  which  He  came  to  establish,  the  ex- 
plaining of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  correcting 
abuses,  doing  good,  healing  the  sick,  and  working  the 
most  stupendous  miracles.  These  are  the  things  which 
He  did ;  but  they  do  not  in  any  way  include  those  things 
which  were  about  to  be  done  to  Him  by  His  enemies.  In 
other  words.  His  sufferings  are  not  included  in  the  works 
that  He  wrought ;  for  they  did  not  in  reality  begin  until 
He  delivered  himself  into  the  hands  of  wicked  men  to  be 
crucified.  We  must  always  distinguish  between  the 
things  done  by  Christ  and  the  things  done  to  Christ. 
The  words  ''  I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou 
gavest  me  to  do"  belong  to  the  former ;  but  have  no  ref- 
erence whatever  to  the  latter. 

Now,  even  supposing  we  do  allow  the  work  of  the 
atonement  to  have  been  completed  on  the  cross,  we  can- 
not escape  from  some  very  formidable  difficulties  which, 
on  reflection,  will  appear  evident  to  any  unprejudiced 
mind.  No  Christian,  I  imagine,  who  professes  to  believe 
in  the  atonement,  will  be  prepared  to  deny  that  Christ  ^ 
was  a  substitute  for  sinful  man.  Can  we  insist  that  a 
full  expiation  for  all  sin,  whether  original  or  actual,  was 
made  by  and  through  the  death  of  our  Saviour  upon  the 
cross,  and  yet  maintain  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  suhstitu- 
tion?  It  appears  to  me  that  one  of  the  two  must  be  aban- 
doned, for  both,  upon  any  rational  principles  of  justice, 
and  indeed  upon  Scriptural  grounds,  are  indefensible. 
Well,  we  cannot,  and  we  will  not,  give  up  our  belief  in 
the  doctrine  of  substitution,  because  this  great  fact,  so 
consolatory  to  fallen  man,  is  clearly  taught  throughout 
the  Bible.  Physical  death  is  either  one  of  the  effects  of 
sin,  or  it  is  not.  If  the  latter  of  these  two  assertions  be 
considered  true,  then  there  must  have  been  the  seeds  of 
mortality  in  Adam  before  he  fell  through  disobedience. 
According  to  this  doctrine,  in  fact,  death  came  into  the 
world  independently  of  sin,  and  therefore  the  progenitor 


144  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

of  the  human  race  would  be  stamped  with  mortality  at 
the  time  he  emanated  from  the  hands  of  the  Creator. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  doctrine  taught  in  the  word  of 
God.  In  the  sacred  records  we  invariably  find  death 
spoken  of  as  the  result  of  sin.  Let  us  note  what  St. 
Paul  says  on  this  subject.  In  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
(v.  12,  13,  14)  the  apostle  thus  speaks:  ''Wherefore,  as 
by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin  : 
and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned: 
For  until  the  law  sin  was  in  the  world  :  but  sin  is  not 
imputed  when  there  is  no  law.  Nevertheless  death 
reigned  from  Adam  to  Moses,  even  over  them  that  had 
not  sinned  after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgression." 
Here  we  are  taught  by  an  inspired  apostle  that  sin  was 
the  precursor  of  death,  which  must  surely  be  understood 
as  including  death,  of  every  description,  whether  physi- 
cal or  spiritual.  Then,  since  physical  death  is  included 
as  one  of  the  consequences  of  Adam's  disobedience,  and 
since  Christ  came  to  make  full  satisfaction  for  the  con- 
sequences of  such  disobedience,  or,  in  other  words,  as- 
sumed human  nature  for  the  express  purpose  of  expia- 
ting all  sin,  so  far  as  man  was  concerned,  how  shall  we 
account  for  the  fact  patent  to  us  all,  namely,  that  death 
still  continues  its  ravages  among  us,  nor  has  it  ever 
ceased  to  visit  every  class  of  society  ? 

Such  questions  as  these  have  been  mooted  again  and 
again :  If  Christ  died  in  our  stead,  why  are  we  com- 
pelled to  undergo  the  penalty  of  death  ?  Does  this  state 
of  things  not  imply  that  Christ  has  either  not  made  a  sat- 
isfactory expiation  for  our  sin,  or  that  God  is  unjust  in 
demanding  the  death  of  the  Redeemer  and  also  the  death 
of  the  redeemed  ?  Inquiries  of  this  kind  will  emanate 
from  reflecting  men,  and  they  ought  to  be  answered  by 
those  whose  sacred  duty  it  is  to  expound  the  word  of 
God.  It  is  to  be  hoped  the  day  is  passed  and  gone  for- 
ever when  the  supposed  mysteries  of  religion  are  to  be 
used  as  a  cloak  for  man's  ignorance.  Had  such  questions 
as  these  to  which  I  have  just  referred,  been  dealt  with  in 
a  manner  becoming  the  importance  of  the  subject,  we  feel 
assured  that  no  small  amount  of  infidelity  and  skepticism 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  145 

would  have  been  prevented.  It  is  most  probable,  how- 
ever, I  shall  here  be  told  that  Christ  did  not  die  to  save 
us  from  physical,  but  from  spiritual  death,  and  therefore 
it  is  unreasonable  to  complain  of  man  being  subject  to 
mortality.  It  will  then  follow,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, that  Christ  died  to  save  man's  soul.  The  body 
of  the  Redeemer  saved  the  souls  of  the  redeemed.  Re- 
garding this  doctrine  as  true,  we  are  obliged  to  admit  that 
after  all  man's  redemption  is  only  partial,  inasmuch  as  his 
soul,  but  not  his  body,  has  been  redeemed.  Is  this  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Bible  ?  Certainly  not,  otherwise  there  could 
be  no  such  thing  as  a  resurrection  of  the  body.  Unless 
our  mortal  bodies,  as  well  as  our  immortal  souls,  have 
been  ransomed  by  the  death  of  Christ,  it  is  difficult  to 
know  what  grounds  we  have  for  saying,  as  we  do,  that 
''  We  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body.'' 

Let  us  now  close  this  chapter  by  pointing  out  some 
few  of  the  conclusions  to  which  we  must  arrive,  if  the 
atonement  was  made  on  the  cross.  The  death  of  Christ 
by  crucifixion  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  substitution  for 
the  physical  death  of  man,  because  all  men  die.  There 
is,  therefore,  no  substitution  in  that  respect.  Then,  as  the 
death  of  the  Redeemer  could  not  have  taken  place  instead 
of  man's  natural  dissolution,  and  yet  it  was  in  some  re- 
spect his  substitution,  we  must  say  that  He  died  that 
cruel  death  to  save  the  souls  of  men  from  eternal  death. 
Is  it  not  strange  that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ's  animal  life 
should  save  men's  souls,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  does 
not  save  them  from  natural  death  ?  Is  there  so  great  an 
analogy  between  moral  guilt  and  animal  life  ?  We  are 
nevertheless  told  that  Christ  was  our  substitute.  Can 
we  show  that  He  was  our  substitute,  while  we  deny  that 
He  ever  suffered  after  His  death  on  the  cross  ?  Surely 
not.  It  is  plain  that  His  physical  death  by  crucifixion 
has  in  no  way  proved  to  be  a  substitution,  since  death  is 
the  common  lot  of  us  all.  Since  we  are  assured  that  our 
Saviour  never  experienced  pain  after  giving  up  the  ghost, 
how,  when,  and  where  was  He  a  substitute  for  sinners  ? 
If  men  are  saved  from  eternal  death  by  Christ,  it  has 
been  accomplished  without  the  Redeemer  undergoing  the 

10 


146  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

punishment,  and  if  He  did  not  taste  of  that  death  Him- 
self, then  all  idea  or  notion  of  His  being  our  substitute 
must  forever  be  abandoned.  If  His  dying  on  the  cross 
has  failed  to  save  us  from  physical  death,  we  can  have  but 
slender  grounds  for  concluding  that  He  saved  us  from 
another  sort  of  death  which  He  never  suffered.  To  as- 
sert that  Christ  saved  us  from  a  death  which  He  never 
died,  while  He  has  apparently  failed  to  rescue  us  from 
the  death  that  Ho  did  die,  sounds  like  something  very 
paradoxical. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  atonement — The  time,  place,  and  manner  in  which  it  was  effected — 
The  design  of  the  prohibition  given  to  Adam — The  consequences  of 
its  violation — Four  deaths  spoken  of  in  Scripture — Two  of  these  are 
the  natural  inheritance  of  every  child  of  Adam,  and  are  experienced 
in  the  present  world  —  The  other  two  are  experienced  in  the  next 
world — Did  disobedience  emanate  from  the  soul  or  from  the  body  of 
Adam? — The  soul  clearly  shown  to  have  sinned,  while  the  body  was 
merely  the  instrument — On  the  principle  of  justice  the  atonement 
must  be  made  by  the  Soul — Christ's  mental  anguish  in  the  garden  of 
Gethsemane  not  sufficient  to  make  full  expiation — The  Jewish  sacri- 
fices foreshadow  Christ's  atonement  in  the  next  world — The  sprink- 
ling of  the  blood  alone  saved  the  lives  of  the  Israelites — The  dying 
and  the  death  of  the  victim  only  preliminaries  to  the  expiation  of  sin. 

From  what  was  said  in  the  last  chapter,  we  must  either 
give  up  the  notion  that  the  great  work  of  the  atonement 
was  finished  by  the  sufferings  of  Christ  on  the  cross,  or 
abandon  the  doctrine  of  substitution ;  and  to  adopt  the 
latter  alternative  would  be  to  leave  us  in  our  sins. 
Having  already  shown  in  what  the  atonement  did  not 
consist,  I  shall  now  endeavor  to  demonstrate  beyond  all 
reasonable  doubts  in  what  I  conceive  it  really  did  consist. 
We  are  of  opinion  that  expiation  for  sin  was  not  made  on 
the  cross,  neither  was  it  effected  in  this  world.  That  the 
atonement  was  never  made  on  this  earth,  I  hope  to  prove 
from  common  sense,  reason,  and  Scripture.  In  the  dis- 
cussion of  these  propositions  I  shall  not  employ  all  the 
arguments  that  might  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  subject, 
but  simply  select  such  salient  points  as  will  carry  convic- 
tion with  them. 

Let  us  begin  at  the  root  of  the  matter  and  trace  each 
point  step  by  step.  From  the  Book  of  Genesis  we  learn 
how  God  dealt  with  Adam  after  He  had  created  him.  He 
was  placed  in  the  garden  of  Eden  with  permission  to  enjoy 
the  fruit  of  all  the  trees,  except  the  tree  of  knowledge  of 

(147) 


148  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

good  and  evil.  This  single  prohibition  was  designed  as 
a  test  of  Adam^s  obedience,  and  as  a  ren^inder  of  his  duty 
to,  and  dependence  upon,  the  Creator.  Though  com- 
manded, on  pain  of  death,  not  to  eat,  or  even  to  touch  the 
forbidden  fruit,  yet  the  first  man  would  do  his  own  will 
instead  of  the  Divine  will.  God  had  declared  to  him 
(Gen.  ii.  16,  lY)  these  solemn  words:  "  Of  every  tree  of 
the  garden  thou  mayest  freely  eat ;  but  of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it :  for 
in  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die." 
Adam,  nevertheless,  ran  the  risk,  and  therefore  incurred 
the  penalty.  The  very  day  on  which  the  father  of  the 
human  race  ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit  he  was  to  die.  Let 
us  now  inquire  into  the  nature  of  that  death  which  was 
to  take  place  as  an  immediate  consequence  of  his  disobe- 
dience. We  must  bear  in  mind  that  Scripture  recognizes 
four  sorts  of  death.  Inasmuch  as  separation  is  the  very 
essence  of  each  sort  of  death,  they  may  all  be  said  to 
agree  in  that  particular  feature.  Having  once  incurred 
the  first  kind  of  death,  we  became  liable  to  the  other 
three  ;  for  in  this  state  we  are  said  in  Scripture  to  be  ''  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins."  The  man  who  is  thus  dead  finds 
himself  severed  from  God.  The  invisible  but  real  union 
between  the  Creator  and  the  creature  in  consequence  of 
this  death  is  broken,  and  such  was  the  condition  into 
which  Adam  was  thrown  on  the  day  that  he  violated  the 
Divine  command  by  eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit.  This 
sort  of  death  is  alluded  to  in  the  case  of  the  prodigal  son 
who,  while  he  continued  in  sin  or  in  the  land  of  ungodli- 
ness, was  said  to  be  dead.  The  next  sort  of  death,  in  the 
regular  order  of  things,  is  physical  death,  which  we  must 
all  experience  either  sooner  or  later.  Here,  then,  we 
have  two  deaths,  both  of  which  belong  to  this  present 
world.  They  are  the  natural  inheritance  of  every  child 
of  fallen  Adam.  We  enter  the  world  in  the  one,  our  de- 
parting from  the  world  is  the  result  of  the  other.  The 
other  two  deaths  are  experienced  in  the  next  world.  The 
one  comes  to  pass  in  Hades,  and  the  other  in  Gehenna. 
The  death  in  Hades  begins  at  the  decease  of  a  wicked 
man,  and  terminates  at  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  149 

The  death  in  Gehenna  commences  immediately  after  the 
Day  of  Judgment,  and  is  endless  in  its  duration.  Such, 
then,  are  the  deaths  recognized  by,  and  so  frequently 
spoken  of  in,  the  word  of  God. 

So  long  as  the  father  of  mankind  obeyed  the  Divine 
command  and  remained  in  a  state  of  holy  innocence, 
there  existed  that  bond  of  unity  between  the  Creator  and 
the  creature  which  constitutes  life  and  happiness  ;  but  as 
soon  as  one  link  of  the  chain,  which  unites  God  and  man, 
was  broken,  the  ravages  of  death  began  their  work  of 
destruction.  Thus  situated,  man  must  either  be  restored 
to  the  favor  of  the  Almighty,  or  be  left  to  perish  ever- 
lastingly. 

Now,  in  disobeying  God,  we  must  ask  and  answer  the 
following  question  respecting  the  progenitor  of  the  human 
race :  Did  such  disobedience  emanate  from  the  soul  or 
from  the  body  of  Adam  ?  Was  it  the  mental  act  of  Adam, 
or  the  putting  of  that  mental  act  into  practice  that  consti- 
tuted the  disobedience,  and,  therefore,  the  sin  of  our  an- 
cestor ?  Let  us  bear  in  mind  that  there  is  not  only  the 
outward  act  of  which  Adam  was  guilty,  to  be  considered, 
but  there  would  also  exist  the  determination  within  his 
soul  to  violate  the  Divine  injunction.  We  have  the  in- 
visible operation  of  Adam^s  mind,  which  ends  in  a  full 
determination  to  set  his  will  in  array  against  the  will  of 
God,  and  the  eating  of  the  fruit  which  subsequently  fol- 
lowed, was  merely  the  visible  manifestation,  or  comple- 
tion in  act,  of  that  resolution  to  which  he  had  previously 
arrived.  The  moment  Adam  set  his  own  will  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Divine  will,  and  determined  at  all  hazards  to 
partake  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  from  which  he  had  been 
commanded  to  abstain  on  penalty  of  death,  that  moment 
he  became  a  sinner.  What  evil  thoughts  soever  arise  in 
the  mind,  and  so  influence  the  will  that  any  vicious  inten- 
tion in  particular  would  be  carried  into  effect,  unless  pre- 
vented by  some  external  cause,  such  a  man  is  in  the  sight 
of  God  as  much  a  sinner  as  if  his  vicious  intention  had 
assumed  the  practical  character.  We  have  authority  for 
speaking  in  this  manner  from  what  our  Lord  Himself 
has  taught  us  in  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount.     Our  Sa- 


150  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

viour  addressed  His  hearers  in  these  words  ;  "  Ye  have 
heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt 
not  commit  adultery :  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  whoso- 
ever looketh  on  a  woman  to  hist  after  her  hath  committed 
adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart."  (See  Matt.  v. 
2t,  28.)  St.  John  also  speaks  to  the  same  purpose,  say- 
ing (I.  John  iii.  15)  :  "  Whosoever  hateth  his  brother  is 
a  murderer."  We  here  learn  that  the  sin  mainly  lies  in 
the  turpitude  of  the  mind.  Though  a  man  never  perpe- 
trated the  crime  of  murder,  yet  he  may  nevertheless  be 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  murderer  in  his  heart  and  in 
the  sight  of  God.  He  may  also  be  an  adulterer,  though 
he  never  committed  the  foul  deed.  In  reference  then  to 
the  offense  of  Adam,  we  may  observe  that  as  soon  as  he 
had  resolved  to  be  disobedient  to  the  prohibition  imposed 
upon  him,  his  sinful  act  was  mentally  completed.  Before 
he  moved  a  finger  to  take  the  fruit  offered  to  him  the 
whole  process  of  guilt  was  incurred.  The  receiving  of 
the  fruit  and  the  eating  of  the  fruit  were  merely  external 
manifestations  of  the  state  and  working  of  Adam's  mind. 
That  which  existed  in  his  soul  did,  by  virtue  of  that  act, 
assume  a  visible  form.  I  have  mentioned  these  points  to 
show  that  it  was  the  soul  of  Adam  that  sinned  and  be- 
came guilty  before  God,  and  what  was  done  by  his  body 
in  the  subsequent  act  of  eating  the  fruit  was  manifestly 
done  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  the  soul.  Under  no 
circumstances  whatever  could  the  animal  frame  or  body  of 
Adam  be  otherwise  than  an  instrument  or  servant  acting 
a  subordinate  part  in  direct  obedience  to  the  will  of  his 
soul.  It  is  the  prerogative  of  the  mind  or  soul  to  com- 
mand, and  the  province  of  the  body  to  carry  out  such 
command.  Then,  since  it  was  the  soul  of  man  that  sinned, 
and  since  an  atonement  for  such  sin  was  to  be  made  on 
the  principles  of  justice,  it  most  assuredly  ought  to  be 
the  soul  of  man  that  should  make  the  atonement.  If  the 
above  view  be  correct,  we  are  justified  in  concluding  that 
it  would  be  unfair  and  unreasonable  to  punish  the  body 
for  the  guilt  of  the  soul ;  while  the  latter,  the  real  and 
responsible  offender,  should  be  allowed  to  escape  punish- 
ment altogether.     I  may,  however,  be  told  that  the  mental 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  151 

anguish  endured  by  Christ  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane 
was  sufficient  to  make  full  expiation  for  human  transgres- 
sion. Had  such  been  the  case,  the  mental  suffering  prior 
to  His  crucifixion  would  have  precluded  the  necessity  of 
His  physical  death  ;  but  since  the  distress  of  soul  He  ex- 
perienced did  not  prevent  His  physical  death,  we  are 
quite  sure  that  no  atonement  was  thereby  effected.  Let 
us  now  inquire  whether  we  have  any  grounds  for  believ- 
ing that  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old  Testament  pointed  to 
the  fact  that  Christ  was  to  make  full  atonement  in  the 
next  world  for  the  guilt  of  man.  In  discussing  this  sub- 
ject, it  appears  to  me  absolutely  necessary  to  distinguish 
between  the  sacrifice^  and  the  act  q'^  feature  in  the  sacri- 
fice which  actually  constituted  the  atonement. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  directions  given  for  the 
institution  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  will  make  it  appear 
that  the  above  distinction  is  well  founded,  and  of  the 
greatest  importance  in  ascertaining  what  really  made  the 
atonement.  In  the  Book  of  Exodus  (xii.  6,  t,  8,  13),  we 
read  these  significant  words :  "•  And  ye  shall  keep  it  (the 
lamb)  until  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  same  month :  and 
the  whole  assembly  of  the  congregation  of  Israel  shall 
kill  it  in  the  evening.  And  they  shall  take  of  the  blood, 
and  strike  it  on  the  two  side  posts  and  on  the  upper  door 
post  of  the  houses,  wherein  they  shall  eat  it.  And  they 
shall  eat  the  flesh  in  that  night,  roast  with  fire,  and  un- 
leavened bread ;  and  with  bitter  herbs  they  shall  eat  it. 
And  the  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  token  upon  the  houses 
where  ye  are  :  and  when  I  see  the  blood,  I  will  pass  over 
you,  and  the  plague  shall  not  be  upon  you  to  destroy  you, 
when  I  smite  the  land  of  Egypt.''  Here  we  learn  that  the 
Israelites  were  enjoined  to  select  certain  lambs  or  kids  of 
a  specified  age,  to  kill  them  at  a  particular  time  in  the 
evening  of  an  appointed  day,  to  eat  them  after  being 
roasted,  and  to  sprinkle  the  blood  upon  the  upper  and 
side  posts  of  the  doors  of  their  respective  houses.  A 
promise  was  also  made  that  the  blood  should  be  a  token 
to  those  in  the  house,  and  that  when  the  destroying  angel 
saw  it  he  would  not  inflict  any  punishment  upon  them. 
Now  we  may  justly  inquire  whether  compliance,  on  the 


152  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

part  of  the  Israelites,  with  all  these  conditions,  was  essen- 
tial for  their  deliverance  from  destruction,  whether  a  part 
would  have  been  deemed  sufficient,  or  whether  the  carry- 
ing out  of  one  of  the  particulars  to  the  virtual  exclusion 
of  the  rest  secured  their  safety. 

It  is  perfectly  clear  to  every  unprejudiced  mind,  that 
the  children  of  Israel  were  not  in  any  way  rescued  from 
the  hand  of  the  destroyer  simply  by  the  slaying  of  the 
victim,  for  if  the  shedding  of  the  blood  as  such  had  been 
attended  with  that  degree  of  efficacy,  there  certainly  would 
have  been  no  need  either  for  eating  the  lamb  or  for  sprink- 
ling its  blood.  The  salvation  of  the  firstborn  of  the  in- 
mates within  the  Israelitish  houses  could  not  be  ascribed 
to  the  mere  partaking  of  the  victim  after  it  was  roasted,  be- 
cause the  feasting  on  the  sacrifice  necessarily  presupposes 
expiation,  and,  therefore,  reconciliation  between  the  Cre- 
ator and  the  creature.  On  this  account  we  speak  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  as  a  Eucharist,  that  is,  a  thanksgiving  in 
commemoration  of  mercies  already  vouchsafed  to  us. 
Again,  if  the  deliverance  from  the  hand  of  the  destroying 
angel  had  entirely  depended  upon  the  eating  of  the  lamb, 
then  all  the  unclean  persons,  infants  and  invalids,  must 
have  been  excluded,  for  they  would  either  be  incapable  of 
or  disqualified  for  participating  in  the  sacrificial  meal. 
Then,  since  it  was  neither  the  selecting  of  the  lamb  for 
sacrifice,  the  offering  of  the  lamb,  the  act  of  killing  the 
lamb,  the  dying  of  the  lamb,  the  death  of  the  lamb,  nor 
the  eating  of  the  lamb,  that  caused  the  angel  of  God  to 
spare  the  lives  of  the  Israelites,  it  must  have  been  the 
sprinkling  of  the  victim's  blood.  The  salient  point  in 
the  whole  narrative,  and  that  which  procured  the  safety 
of  the  people,  was  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  upon  the 
door  posts.  Let  us  carefully  weigh  the  destroying  angePs 
words,  and  then  no  mistake  as  to  their  meaning  can  arise. 
He  did  not  say,  when  I  see  you  killing  the  lamb,  or  feast- 
ing upon  it,  ^'  I  will  pass  over  you ;"  but,  ''  When  I  see 
the  blood,"  ''  I  will  pass  over  you,  and  the  plague  shall 
not  come  upon  you  to  destroy  you."  Though  the  slaugh- 
tering of  the  animal  was  essential  to  the  obtaining  of  its 
blood,  yet  in  that  slaughtering  there  was   no   atoning 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES,  I53 

efficacy  in  the  sight  of  God ;  for  if  expiation  had  thereby 
been  effected,  the  subsequent  act  of  sprinkling  would 
have  been  superfluous.  The  eating  of  the  sacrifice,  as 
ah^eady  shown,  indicated  reconciliation  and  peace  between 
the  destroying  angel  and  the  people  of  Israel. 

Now  the  slaying  of  the  lamb  offered  in  sacrifice  would, 
of  necessity,  precede  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood.  In  other 
words,  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  could  not  take  place  till 
after  the  death  of  the  victim.  Hence  it  must  follow  con- 
clusively, what  has  been  pointed  out  before,  namely,  that 
it  was  neither  the  dying  of  the  victim  nor  the  death  of  the 
victim,  but  something  subsequent  to  both  which  effected 
the  deliverance  of  the  inmates  of  the  Jewish  houses  in 
Egypt,  and  that  subsequent  something  was  the  sprinkling 
of  the  blood.  The  slaying  of  the  animal  to  be  sacrificed 
was  required  in  order  to  obtain  that  blood  with  which  the 
expiation  had  to  be  made.  In  the  Book  of  Leviticus 
(xvii.  6, 11)  we  thus  read :  ''  And  the  priest  shall  sprinkle 
the  blood  upon  the  altar  of  the  Lord  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation."  '*  For  the  life  of  the 
flesh  is  in  the  blood  :  and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the 
altar  (that  is,  to  be  sprinkled  upon  the  altar)  to  make  an 
atonement  for  your  souls :  for  it  is  the  blood  that  maketh 
an  atonement  for  the  soul."  We  see  the  same  sort  of  lan- 
guage here,  and  .the  same  great  truth  inculcated,  namely, 
that  something  must  be  done  after  the  death  of  the  animal 
in  order  to  effect  the  atonement.  The  dying  and  death  of 
the  victim  were  only  preliminaries  to  the  expiation  of  sin, 
but  did  not  in  themselves  expiate  it.  It  was  the  sprink- 
ling of  the  blood  subsequent  to  the  death  of  4ihe  victim 
that  effected  the  work  of  the  atonement.  The  Israelites 
might  have  slain  all  the  lambs  and  kids  too  throughout 
the  whole  land  of  Egypt,  and  even  drenched  the  whole 
country  with  the  blood  of  those  victims,  but  all  this  would 
have  been  of  no  avail,  neither  would  it  have  saved  them 
from  the  threatening  slaughter.  It  was  the  sprinkling  of 
the  blood,  and  that  alone,  which  saved  them  from  being 
involved  in  the  general  destruction.  The  sprinkled  blood 
was  a  token  to  the  Israelites  and  a  sign  to  the  destroying 
angel. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  subject  of  expiation  continued — The  atoning  efficacy  of  tlie  Jewish 
sacrifices  consisted  in  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood — The  view  that  the 
atonement  was  completed  on  the  cross  contradicted  by  the  typical  im- 
port of  the  two  goats  on  the  Jewish  day  of  atonement — The  different 
explanations  given  of  that  portion  of  Leviticus,  chapter  xvi.,  which 
refers  to  the  two  goats — These  explanations  shown  to  be  erroneous — 
Why  were  goats  selected  on  this  particular  occasion  to  be  sacrificed  ? 
— Why  did  the  Lord  order  neither  more  nor  fewer  than  two  goats  ? — 
What  reason  was  there  for  casting  lots? — These  questions  fully  and 
satisfactorily  answered — The  slain  goat  typical  of  Christ's  physical 
death,  and  the  scapegoat  prefigured  His  descent  into  Hades. 

We  may  continue  in  this  chapter  the  subject  of  expia- 
tion, by  quoting  a  passage  from  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews (ix.  19-22),  where  the  apostle  thus  writes  :  "For 
when  Moses  had  spoken  every  precept  to  all  the  people 
according  to  the  law,  he  took  the  blood  of  calves  and  of 
goats,  with  water,  and  scarlet  wool,  and  hyssop,  and 
sprinkled  both  the  book,  and  all  the  people,  saying,  This 
is  the  blood  of  the  testament  which  God  hath  enjoined 
unto  you.  Moreover  he  sprinkled  with  blood  both  the 
tabernacle,  and  all  the  vessels  of  the  ministry.  And 
almost  all  things  are  by  the  law  purged  with  blood ;  and 
without  the  sprinkling  of  blood  there  is  no  remission." 
The  reader  will  observe  that  I  have  translated  aliiart-Ayuaia 
(aimatekchysia)  not  the  "shedding  of  blood,"  but  the 
"sprinkling  of  blood;"  because  such  is  manifestly  the 
sense  required  by  the  text. 

Strictly  speaking,  we  may  shed  blood  without  sprink- 
ling it,  but  we  cannot  sprinkle  the  blood  without  having 
previously  shed  it.  Now,  since  the  sprinkling  of  blood 
alone,  and  apart  from  any  other  portion  of  the  sacrificial 
rite,  is  so  frequently  mentioned  as  that  which  made  the 
atonement,  while  no  such  expiatory  value  is  ever  ascribed 
(154) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  155 

to  the  rest  of  the  sacrificial  rites,  independently  of  the 
sprinkling  of  blood,  we  are  bound  to  conclude  that  the 
atoning  efficacy  of  the  sacrifice  consisted  in  the  sprinkling 
of  the  blood.  This  fact,  too,  carries  reason  along  with  it, 
for  it  was  at  once  a  direct  application  of  the  cleansing 
element  to  that  which  required  purging ;  while  the  slay- 
ing of  the  victim  simply  did  not  include  any  such  appli- 
cation. Hence  we  perceive  the  necessity  of  accurate  dis- 
tinction ♦  between  the  sacrifice  itself  and  that  which  ac- 
tually effects  the  atonement.  Though  both  are  connected, 
and  the  one  cannot  be  procured  without  the  other,  yet  the 
latter,  through  a  divine  appointment,  certainly  possesses 
a  virtue  which  does  not  belong  to  the  former. 

In  order  to  strengthen  our  view  that  the  great  work  of 
the  atonement  was  not  completed  on  the  cross,  we  shall 
now  submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  reader  the  typical 
import  of  what  was  done  with  the  two  goats  on  the 
day  of  atonement.  The  leading  points  connected  with 
these  goats  we  find  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Leviticus 
(xvi.),  and  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  important 
significancy  of  them.  Concerning  the  goats  the  word  of 
God  thus  speaks  : — ''And  he  shall  take  the  two  goats,  and 
present  them  before  the  Lord,  at  the  door  of  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation.  And  Aaron  shall  cast  lots 
upon  the  two  goats  ;  one  lot  for  the  Lord,  and  the  other 
lot  for  the  scapegoat.  And  Aaron  shall  bring  the  goat 
upon  which  the  Lord's  lot  fell,  and  ofter  him  for  a  sin- 
offering.  But  the  goat,  on  which  the  lot  fell  to  be  the 
scapegoat,  shall  be  presented  alive  before  the  Lord,  to 
make  an  atonement  with  him,  and  to  let  him  go  for  a 
scapegoat  into  the  wilderness.  And  when  he  hath  made 
an  end  of  reconciling  the  holy  place,  and  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation,  and  the  altar,  he  shall  bring  the  live 
goat :  And  Aaron  shall  lay  both  his  hands  upon  the  head 
of  the  live  goat,  and  confess  over  him  all  the  iniquities  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  all  their  transgressions  in  all 
their  sins,  putting  them  upon  the  head  of  the  goat,  and 
shall  send  him  away  by  the  hand  of  a  fit  man  into  the 
wilderness :  And  the  goat  shall  bear  upon  him  all  their 
iniquities  unto  a  land  not  inhabited  :  and  he  shall  let  go 


156  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

the  goat  in  the  wilderness.  And  Aaron  shall  come  into 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  and  shall  put  off  the 
linen  garments  which  he  put  on  when  he  went  into  the 
holy  place,  and  shall  leave  them  there:  And  he  shall 
wash  his  flesh  with  water  in  the  holy  place,  and  put  on 
his  garments,  and  come  forth,  and  offer  his  burnt-offering, 
and  the  burnt-offering  of  the  people,  and  make  an  atone- 
ment for  himself  and  for  the  people.  And  the  fat  of  the 
sin-offering  shall  he  burn  upon  the  altar.  And  he  that 
let  go  the  goat  for  the  scapegoat  shall  wash  his  clothes, 
and  bathe  his  flesh  in  water,  and  afterward  come  into  the 
camp." 

The  explanation  given  of  this  remarkable  portion  of 
Scripture  by  those  who  maintain  that  the  sufferings  of 
the  Redeemer  ended  with  His  crucifixion  is  twofold.  One 
class  of  expositors  regard  the  goat  which  was  slain  as  the 
piacular  victim,  and  the  scapegoat  as  indicating  the  com- 
plete and  effectual  removal  of  sin,  consequent  upon  the 
death  of  the  first  goat.  The  other  class  of  Scriptural 
expounders,  among  whom  we  find  Bishop  Patrick,  to 
whose  valuable  commentary  I  have  already  referred,  view 
the  dead  goat  as  setting  forth  the  atonement  by  Christ's 
physical  death,  and  the  scapegoat  as  designed  to  prefigure 
the  resurrection  of  Christ.  It  will  now  be  my  duty  to 
examine  these  opinions  which  have  been  so  generally  and 
eagerly  received  and  adopted  by  Christians,  and  the 
reader  need  not  be  surprised  to  find,  on  investigation,  that 
they  are  not  only  erroneous,  but  they  really  contradict  the 
word  of  God  Himself. 

Now,  touching  this  extraordinary  narrative  about  the 
goats  and  the  important  typical  bearing,  I  have  to  ask 
and  answer  the  following  questions: 

1.  Why  did  God  command  goats  to  be  sacrificed  in 
order  to  set  forth  the  great  work  of  the  atonement  which 
was  to  be  effected  by  the  death  of  His  own  Son  ? 

2.  Why  did  He  order  neither  more  nor  fewer  than 
two  goats  ?  ^ 

3.  What  reason,  was  there  for  casting  lots  in  order  to 
determine  which  should  be  the  most  suitable  for  the  sin- 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  157 

offering,  and  which  for  the  scapegoat  ?  Would  not  one 
goat  have  answered  either  purpose  ? 

It  appears  to  my  mind  that  this  mode  of  proceeding  is 
the  best  way  to  arrive  at  the  truth  of  the  matter ;  for 
there  certainly  must  have  been  some  very  cogent  reasons 
why  goats  and  not  sheep  should  have  been  chosen  on  the 
great  day  of  atonement.  We  should  not  forget  that  the 
sacrifices  offered  on  the  day  of  atonement  were  more 
striking  representations  of  the  expiation  made  by  .Christ 
than  any  other ;  and  the  two  goats  in  their  complete  pre- 
figuration  of  this  atoning  death  must  be  placed  at  the 
head  of  all  the  sacrifices. 

The  first  question  to  be  considered  is,  why  goats  were 
selected  in  preference  to  other  animals. 

Goats  were  chosen  because,  in  prophetical  language, 
and,  indeed,  in  the  Scriptures  generally,  they  signify  bad 
and  wicked  men ;  while  sheep  denote  good  men.  Two 
texts  will  suffice  to  prove  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  In 
the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Ezekiel  (xxxiv.  17),  God  thus 
speaks :  "  And  as  for  you,  O  my  flock,  thus  saith  the 
Lord  God  :  Behold,  I  judge  between  cattle  and  cattle, 
between  the  rams  and  the  he  goats."  This  distinction 
is  also  recognized  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  (xxv. 
31-33),  where  our  Lord  thus  speaks :  *'  When  the  Son  of 
man  shall  come  in  His  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with 
Him,  then  shall  He  sit  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory: 
And  before  Him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations :  And  He 
shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  ns  a  shepherd 
divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats ;  And  He  shall  set  the 
sheep  on  His  right  hand  (the  position  of  honor),  but  the 
goats  on  the  left"  (the  place  of  disgrace  and  condemna- 
tion). These  passages  of  Scripture  show  that  sheep  and 
goats  signify  respectively  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
the  good  and  the  bad,  and  also  those  who  shall  be  finally 
saved,  and  such  as  are  to  be  eternally  lost. 

Then  since  goats,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  signify 
wicked  men,  and  sheep  good  men,  we  can  easily  perceive 
why  the-  former,  instead  of  the  latter,  were  appointed  to 
be  sacrificed  on  the  ''day  of  atonement."  Sheep  or  lambs 
would  do  very  well  to  indicate  the  innocence  and  sinless 


158  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

nature  of  the  Redeemer  and  His  absolute  fitness  to  be 
made  a  propitiation  for  the  transgressions  of  mankind, 
and  even,  to  some  extent,  foreshadow  Him  as  a  substitute 
for  men,  but  beyond  these  limits  they  could  not  go.  On 
the  other  hand,  goats  set  forth  the  real  substitution,  and 
their  being  chosen  was  designed  to  prefigure  the  actual 
identification  of  Christ  with  sinners,  or  to  demonstrate 
the  fact  that  He,  ''who  knew  no  sin,"  was  to  become  a 
substitute  for  sinful  man,  and  to  bear  the  punishment  due 
to  his  iniquities.  The  goats,  in  fact,  could  represent 
Christ  only  in  His  sacrificial  character,  or  while  He  was 
making  expiation  for  human  transgression.  Sheep,  there- 
fore, point  out  the  qualifications  of  Christ  for  making 
satisfaction  for  sin;  the  goats  go  further  and  represent 
Him  in  the  very  act  of  making  the  atonement.  Inas- 
much, then,  as  the  goats  foreshadowed  Christ  only  in  His 
connection  with  and  substitution  for  sinners,  it  is  mani- 
fest that  His  resurrection  could  in  no  way  be  typified  by 
the  scapegoat  being  led  into  the  wilderness.  Substitution 
ended  with  the  liberation  of  the  Redeemer  from  Hades. 
Let  the  reader  be  doubly  cautious  to  distinguish  between 
what  was  done  for  us  by  our  Lord  in  the  way  of  substi- 
tution, and  what  He  did  on  our  behalf  without  substitu- 
tion. Christ  died  for  our  sins  that  we  should  not  die ; 
and  He  rose  again  from  the  dead,  not  to  prevent,  but  to 
insure  our  resurrection. 

Had  Christ  risen  from  the  dead  as  our  substitute,  or  in 
the  exact  sense  in  which  He  died  for  our  sins,  there  would 
have  been  no  physical  resurrection  for  us.  Hence  the 
moment  that  the  pains  of  death  or  Hades  were  loosed, 
that  very  moment  there  was  an  end  of  substitution. 
Christ  died  to  save  us  from  death,  and  rose  again  from 
the  dead  as  the  first-fruits  of  our  resurrection.  So  long 
as  Christ  was  under  the  power  of  death,  so  long  was  He 
dealt  with  as  if  He  had  been  a  sinner,  and  in  that  capacity 
He  was  represented  by  the  goats  ;  but  further  than  that 
point  they  could  not  typify  Him,  because  they  signify 
wicked  men  only,  whereas  the  Redeemer  on  His  deliver- 
ance from  the  prison  of  the  lost,  ceased  to  be  numbered 
among  the  wicked.     Then,  since  the  goats  are  used  only 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  159 

as  the  representatives  of  the  wicked,  it  is  perfectly  certain 
that  they  could  no  longer  foreshadow  Him  after  He  had 
ceased  to  be  ranked  among  sinners.  Hence  we  may  now 
see  the  propriety  of  goats  in  particular  being  appointed 
for  sacrifice  on  the  ''day  of  atonemenf 

We  have  to  inquire,  in  the  second  place,  why  neither 
more  nor  fewer  than  two  goats  were  required.  The  fact 
of  two  goats  being  demanded  to  typify  our  Lord  in  His 
expiatory  character  is  fatal  to  the  views  of  those  who 
imagine  that  His  sufferings  culminated  on  the  ''  accursed 
tree."  We  may  rest  fully  satisfied  that  two  were  ap- 
pointed, because  one  was  found  absolutely  inadequate  to 
make  a  full  adumbration  of  those  realities  which  were  to 
be  acomplished  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Three  goats,  and  consequently  any  number  in  excess  of 
that,  would  have  been  too  many  to  foreshadow  the  grand 
scheme  whose  future  fulfillment  had  been  definitely  fixed 
in  the  Divine  mind.  Hence  the  reason  for  there  being 
two,  and  only  two,  goats. 

Though  there  were  two  goats,  yet  they  made  only  one 
sin-offering;  for  in  verse  5  we  read  these  words:  "And 
he  shall  take  of  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Is- 
rael two  kids  of  the  goats  for  a  sin-offering."  They  were 
(according  to  what  the  Rabbis  tell  us  in  Joma,  cap.  6)  to 
be  of  the  same  color,  the  same  stature,  and  the  same 
price.  As  both  were  intended  for  the  expiation  of  the 
sin  of  the  people,  what  part  in  the  redemptive  history  of 
the  Saviour  did  they  respectively  foreshadow  ?  The  goat, 
which  was  slain,  represented  the  death  of  Christ  on  the 
cross,  and  if  His  sufferings  had  been  finished  on  giving 
up  the  ghost,  the  one  goat  would  have  been  amply  suffi- 
cient to  foreshadow  that  great  event.  The  Saviour  having 
a  still  more  formidable  ordeal  to  undergo,  it  was  necessary 
that  that  ordeal  should  be  typically  pointed  out,  and  we 
find  this  effected  by  the  scapegoat.  The  putting  of  all 
the  iniquities  of  the  Israelites  upon  the  head  of  the  live 
goat  by  the  hands  of  Aaron,  whereby  the  animal  became 
their  substitute,  was  designed  to  prefigure  the  imputation 
of  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  to  Christ,  and  to  indicate 
His  substitution  for  guilty  man.    After  all  the  sins  of  the 


160  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

Israelites  had  been  laid  upon  the  scapegoat,  it  was  led 
away  into  the  wilderness,  to  a  land  not  inhabited,  and 
this  forcibly  represents  the  Messiah  laden  with  the  sins 
of  all  men  going  into  the  miserable  regions  of  Hades  and 
there  suffering  the  punishment  due  to  guilty  man.  Though 
Christ  was  absolutely  innocent  in  reality  and  in  the  sight 
of  God,  yet,  being  a  ''  Substitute"  for  sinners,  He  was 
necessarily  regarded  as  guilty  in  the  eye  of  the  law. 

To  which  of  the  goats  is  the  work  of  the  atonement 
attributed  ?  Let  the  Bible  itself  answer  the  question. 
These  are  the  words  of  Scripture;  ''And  Aaron  shall 
bring  the  goat  upon  which  the  Lord's  lot  fell,  and  offer 
him  for  a  sin-offering  ;  But  the  goat  on  which  the  lot  fell 
to  be  the  scapegoat,  shall  be  presented  alive  before  the 
Lord,  to  make  an  atonement  with  him,  and  to  let  him  go 
for  a  scapegoat  into  the  wilderness.''  Now,  a  mere  glance 
at  this  passage  from  the  word  of  God  cannot  fail  to  satisfy 
the  reader  that  no  expiation  is  ascribed  to  the  dead  goat ; 
the  atonement  is  declared  to  be  made  by  the  living  goat. 
Then,  just  as  expiation  for  sin  was  made  by  the  living 
goat,  and  that  too  after  the  other  goat  had  been  slain, 
so  in  like  manner  did  the  Messiah  after  His  crucifixion, 
and,  therefore,  in  His  disembodied  state,  make  atonement 
for  human  transgressions.  We  therefore  see  that  the 
physical  death  of  the  Saviour  was  only  the  means  or 
channel  for  reaching  that  state  in  which  the  great  work 
of  the  atonement  was  to  be  effected.  We  also  learn,  too, 
that  expiation  for  man's  guilt  did  not  take  place  in  this 
world,  but  in  that  prison  reserved  for  the  lost  in  the  next 
world. 

To  assert,  then,  that  the  slain  goat  was  the  piacular 
victim,  or  to  affirm  that  the  scapegoat  represented  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  is  to  contradict  the  express  testi- 
mony of  Scripture.  Had  the  scapegoat  been  intended  to 
prefigure  the  resurrection  of  the  Messiah,  it  ought  to  have 
been  first  led  into  the  distant  part  of  the  wilderness,  to 
signify  the  banishment  of  the  disembodied  Spirit  of  Christ 
into  Hades,  and  then  after  a  specified  time  it  should  have 
been  brought  back  to  the  place  from  whence  it  previously 
started.     The  resurrection  of  Christ  implied  His  return 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  161 

to  this  world;  but  where  in  the  Bible  do  we  read  of  the 
scapegoat  coming  back  from  the  uninhabited  land  into 
which  it  was  taken  ?  No  intimation  whatever  of  the 
scapegoat's  return  is  to  be  found  in  the  word  of  God. 
We  might  as  well  affirm  that  Christ  rose  from  the  dead 
before  He  made  the  expiation  for  our  sins,  as  to  say  that 
His  resurrection  was  foreshadowed  by  the  leading  of  the 
scapegoat  into  the  desert. 

In  the  third  and  last  place,  we  have  to  show  why  lots 
were  cast,  to  ascertain  how  each  goat  was  to  be  disposed 
of  on  the  **  day  of  atonement.'^ 

The  casting  of  lots  upon  the  two  goats  implied  the  fit- 
ness of  both  for  either  phase  in  the  sin-offering,  and  was 
designed  to  set  forth  in  a  symbolical  manner  the  innate 
fitness  of  Christ,  both  in  body  and  soul,  for  expiating  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world. 


11 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  typical  import  of  "  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood" — The  two  goats 
typified  the  "deaths"  spoken  of  by  Isaiah  in  reference  to  Christ — The 
goat  whose  blood  was  shed  represented  Christ  on  Calvary,  the  scape- 
goat prefigured  Christ  in  Hades — The  doctrine  of  substitution  incul- 
cated by  the  sin-oflfering  of  the  two  goats — The  exact  meaning  and 
import  of  "  wilderness"  to  which  the  scapegoat  was  banished — Another 
reason  why  Christ  suffered  in  Hades,  is  that  the  people  of  the  old  as 
well  as  those  of  the  present  world  may,  on  the  judgment-day,  bear  tes- 
timony to  the  atonement  efi'ected  by  His  sufferings — Texts  considered 
which  seem  to  favor  the  opinion  that  Christ's  sufferings  terminated  in 
this  world — The  Scriptural  meaning  of  eating  the  flesh  of  Christ  and 
drinking  His  blood. 

Having  in  the  course  of  the  preceding  chapter  con- 
sidered the  typical  import  of  the  two  goats,  and  shown 
from  the  Scriptures  of  truth  that  it  was  not  the  dead  but 
the  living  goat  with  which  the  atonement  was  made,  I 
must  now  invite  the  reader's  attention  once  more  to  the 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  the  other  victims  offered  in 
sacrifice.  As  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  possessed 
atoning  efficacy,  and  yet  the  sprinkling  could  not  take 
place  till  the  animal  had  been  put  to  death,  it  must  be 
understood  as  pointing  in  a  typical  manner  to  the  fact, 
that  our  Lord  was  to  make  atonement  for  the  sins  of 
mankind  after  His  death  on  the  cross,  and  therefore  dur- 
ing His  disembodied  state  in  the  prison  of  Hades  I 
may  also  state  here,  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  an- 
cient Hebrews  that  the  essence  of  a  sacrifice  consisted  in 
the  sprinkling  of  the  blood.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
''  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood"  may,  in  a  secondary  sense, 
figuratively  denote  the  application  of  the  merits  of  Christ 
to  the  soul  of  the  believer.  The  reasonableness  of  this 
doctrine  can  scarcely  be  denied,  when  we  reflect  that  it 
was  Adam's  soul  or  superior  nature  that  sinned,  and 
(162) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  163 

therefore,  to  be  just  and  to  act  justly,  it  was  the  soul  of 
Christ  with  which  the  atonement  ought  to  have  been 
made.  If  it  were  right  and  proper  that  expiation  for  sin 
should  be  effected  in  that  nature  which  originally  incurred 
the  guilt  in  question,  it  must  be  doubly  right  and  proper 
to  demand  expiation  from  the  soul  whence  the  diso- 
bedience and  sin  emanated.  The  soul  of  the  first  Adam 
sinned  ;  the  soul  of  the  socond  Adam  atoned  for  that  sin. 
Adam  set  his  will  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  God,  and 
that  fact  accounts  for  our  Lord  having  said  (Luke  xxii. 
42),  ''Father,  if  Thou  be  willing,  remove  this  cup  from 
me:  nevertheless,  not  myvjill,  but  Thine,  be  done.''''  The 
first  Adam  would  do  his  own  will  in  express  violation  of 
a  negative  command,  whereas  the  second  Adam  came 
not  to  do  His  own  will,  but  the  will  of  Him  that  sent 
Him.     (John  vi.  38.) 

The  view  here  taken  in  reference  to  the  goats  is  con- 
firmed by  the  prediction  in  the  Book  of  the  Prophet 
Isaiah,  which  foretold  that  our  Saviour  would  make 
"  His  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the  rich  in  His 
death."  It  has  been  shown,  in  a  former  part  of  this 
work,  that  the  word  translated  ''  death"  is  plural  in  the 
Hebrew,  and  there  seems  every  reason  for  concluding 
that  the  two  goats  figuratively  represented  the  two 
**  deaths"  of  which  the  prophet  spake.  The  two  goats 
solemnly  consecrated  and  devoted  to  be  sacrificed  con- 
stituted only  one  sin-offering,  yet  both  were  essential 
in  order  to  shadow  forth  the  two  distinct  phases  in  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ.  In  the  goat  whose  blood  was  shed 
we  see  the  death  of  the  Messiah  on  Calvary:  in  the 
scapegoat  laden  with  the  sins  of  the  people  and  removed 
into  the  distant  wilderness,  we  behold  the  Blessed  Re- 
deemer banished  from  the  presence  of  God,  and  suffering, 
in  the  prison  of  Hades,  the  punishment  due  to  our  sins. 
The  laying  of  Aaron's  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  goat, 
and  the  transferring  of  the  people's  sins  to  it,  can  only 
be  regarded  as  the  most  vivid  illustration  of  the  imputa- 
tion of  our  sins  to  Christ,  and  of  his  suffering  in  our 
stead  the  punishment  due  those  sins.  Not  only  is  the 
doctrine  of  substitution  inculcated  by  the  two  goat^,  but 


164  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

substitution  of  the  most  complete  character.  This  state- 
ment is  proved  by  verses  21  and  22  of  the  chapter  under 
consideration.  These  are  the  words:  ''And  Aaron  shall 
lay  both  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  live  goat,  and 
confess  over  him  all  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Is- 
rael, and  all  their  transgressions  in  all  their  sins,  putting 
them  upon  the  head  of  the  goat,  arid  shall  send  him 
away  by  the  hand  of  a  fit  man  into  the  wilderness:  And 
the  goat  shall  bear  upon  him  all  their  iniquities  unto  a 
land  not  inhabited :  And  he  shall  let  go  the  goat  in  the 
wilderness."  The  fullness  and  completeness  of  the  atone- 
ment are  indicated  by  the  fact  that  all  the  ains,  all  the 
iniquities,  and  all  the  transgressions  of  the  children  of 
Israel  were  to  be  laid  upon  the  goat.  The  threefold  de- 
scription of  wickedness  above  mentioned  must  be  under- 
stood as  including  every  species  of  sin  that  any  man  is 
capable  of  committing  against  the  law  of  Almighty  God. 
In  laying  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  goat  the  high- 
priest  uttered  (according  to  what  we  are  told  in  Joma, 
cap.  6,  sect.  2)  this  prayer:  I  beseech  Thee,  O  God,  this 
people,  the  house  of  Israel,  have  done  wickedly,  and  been 
rebellious,  and  sinned  before  Thee.  I  beseech  Thee  now, 
O  God,  expiate  the  iniquities,  the  rebellions,  and  the  sins 
which  Thy  people,  the  house  of  Israel,  have  done  wick- 
edly, transgressed,  and  sinned  before  Thee.  According 
as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses  Thy  servant  (Lev. 
xvi.  30),  **on  that  day  he  shall  make  an  atonement  for 
you,  to  cleanse  you  that  you  may  be  clean  from  all  your 
sins  before  the  Lord."  As  soon  as  the  high-priest  pro- 
nounced the  incommunicable  name  Jehovah  (Lord), 
which  is  the  final  word  in  the  prayer,  all  the  priests  and 
the  people  in  the  court  fell  upon  their  faces  and  wor- 
shiped, saying,  ''Blessed  be  the  Lord;  let  the  glory  of 
His  kingdom  be  forever." 

The  Hebrews  tell  us  that  the  wilderness  into  which 
the  scapegoat  had  to  be  led  was  called  Tzuk,  and  that  it 
was  situated  ten  miles  from  Jerusalem.  The  command 
was  to  take  the  goat  mup.s-Sx  "  into  a  land  not  inhab- 
ited." In  the  LXX.  we  have  elq  yT^v  ajiazov,  "  into  an  in- 
acceseible  country ;"  and  in  the  Yulgate  the  words  are 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  1G5 

rendered  in  terram  solitariam,  ^'into  a  desolate  land.'' 
The  exact  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  gezera  is  not 
brought  out  either  in  the  Authorized  Version,  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  or  the  Vulgate.  It  is  derived  from  nij,  which 
signifies  (1)  To  cut  off,  to  divide ;  (2)  To  eat  up,  to  de- 
vour. It  is  easy  then  to  see  that  that  portion  of  the 
desert  into  which  the  man  was  instructed  to  convey  the 
scapegoat  must  have  been  characterized  by  two  remark- 
able features,  namely,  it  was  cut  off  from  habitable  coun- 
tries, and  naked  or  devoid  of  herbage.  It  would  seem, 
indeed,  from  its  isolation  and  barrenness,  to  denote  a 
desolate  and  inaccessible  region,  which  was  rather  under 
the  curse  than  the  blessing  of  Heaven.  This  condition  of 
the  scapegoat,  in  the  very  worst  part  of  the  wilderness, 
is  most  assuredly  a  striking  picture  of  our  Lord's  terrible 
state  in  the  unseen  world!  From  some  texts  of  Scrip- 
tare  it  would  appear  that  a  desert  was  regarded  as  the 
abode  of  evil  spirits,  and  this  would  still  more  strongly 
represent  that  part  of  Hades  in  which  the  lost  dead  are 
confined.  (See  Isa.  xiii.  21;  St.  Matt.  xii.  43;  Rev.  xviii. 
2.)  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark  that  nu,  to  cut  off,  is 
used  concerning  our  Lord  in  the  Book  of  the  Prophet 
Isaiah  (liii.  8),  where  we  thus  read:  ''  He  was  cut  off  out 
of  the  land  of  the  living."  Another  probability  to  be 
assigned  for  our  Lord's  having  suffered  the  '*  pangs  of 
Hades"  was,  that  all  those  who  had  departed  this  life  in 
their  sins  prior  to  His  first  Advent,  might  become  histori- 
cally acquainted  with  the  fact  of  His  atoning  death,  and 
thence  be  led  to  see  the  justness  of  that  sentence  which 
shall  be  pronounced  upon  them  at  the  day  of  judgment. 
In  consequence  of  the  twofold  death  of  Our  Lord,  no 
man,  whether  he  belonged  to  the  old  world  or  the  present 
world,  can  plead  ignorance  of  the  great  and  solemn  truth, 
that  the  blood  of  Jesus  was  shed  for  him.  According  to 
the  words  of  St.  Peter,  our  Blessed  Lord  was,  during  His 
separate  state,  among  the  disembodied  spirits  of  those 
men  who  perished  at  the  deluge,  so  that  the  people  of  the 
old  world,  as  well  as  those  of  the  present  world,  must 
bear  testimony  to  the  atonement  effected  by  the  sufferings 
of  Christ.     The  consciousness  of  this  great  fact  will,  at 


166  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

the  day  of  final  accounts,  render  the  wicked,  like  the  man 
without  a  wedding  garment,  absolutely  speechless. 

We  must  now  pass  on  to  notice  a  few  texts  more 
which  are  supposed  to  point  to  the  termination  of  the 
Redeemer's  sufferings  in  this  world.  In  the  Book  of 
Deuteronomy  (xxi.  22,  23)  we  find  these  words :  *'And  if 
a  man  have  committed  a  sin  worthy  of  death,  and  he  be  to 
be  put  to  death,  and  thou  hang  him  on  a  tree :  his  body 
shall  not  remain  all  night  upon  the  tree,  but  thou  shalt  in 
any  wise  bury  him  that  day  (for  he  that  is  hanged  is  ac- 
cursed of  God)  ;  that  thy  land  be  not  defiled,  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee."  And  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians  (iii.  13)  we  thus  read:  ''  Christ  hath  redeemed 
us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us: 
for  it  is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a 
tree." 

The  custom  of  suspending  criminals  among  the  ancient 
Hebrews,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  identical  with  cruci- 
fixion among  the  Romans.  The  latter  used  to  place  the 
offender  upon  the  cross  alii^e,  and  leave  him  there  till  life 
became  extinct ;  whereas  the  former,  after  putting  the 
criminal  to  death  by  stoning  or  otherwise,  suspended  his 
dead  body  on  a  tree.  The  Romans,  in  fact,  suspended 
the  man ;  the  Jews,  on  the  contrary,  merely  suspended 
the  body  of  the  man  after  he  was  dead.  Was  it,  then, 
the  body  or  the  soul  of  the  culprit,  or  both,  that  were 
accursed  of  God  ?  This  question  must  be  answered  be- 
fore we  can  ascertain  the  precise  import  and  full  meaning 
of  these  Scriptural  declarations.  The  malediction  could 
not  be  carried  out  by  the  suspension  of  the  corpse  on  the 
tree,  since  that  was  the  effect  and  not  the  cause  of  the 
curse.  It  is  evident  that  the  crime  led  to  the  curse,  and 
the  curse  brought  the  suspension.  It  is  equally  clear  that 
if  there  had  not  been  any  crime  there  never  would  have 
been  any  ignominious  death,  and  if  there  had  never  been 
an  ignominious  death  there  could  not  have  been  a  sus- 
pension of  the  criminal's  dead  body.  Then,  since  we  are 
assured  upon  the  authority  of  the  Bible  that  whosoever 
hangeth  upon  a  tree  is  "accursed  of  God,'*  and  that  the 
malediction  does  not  refer  to  the  culprit's  body,  we  are 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  167 

bound  to  conclude  that  it  is  the  isoul  of  the  criminal 
which  was  subjected  to  the  curse  of  God  aftei'  its  sepa- 
ration from  the  body.  The  ancient  Jews  did  not  believe 
that  the  curse  was  fulfilled  by  hanging  the  culprit  upon 
a  tree,  neither,  indeed,  could  it  be,  but  by  the  infliction  of 
punishment  upon  the  culprit's  soul  after  dissolution. 
These  facts  are  strong  testimonies  to  the  view  here  taken, 
namely,  that  Christ  suffered  in  Hades  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  human  redemption.  To  attempt  the  chastise- 
ment of  a  man's  mortal  remains  on  account  of  a  crime 
previously  committed  by  the  man  himself  would  be  a  re- 
volting exhibition  of  malice,  pusillanimity,  and  vindic- 
tiveness  which  could  under  no  circumstances  whatever 
be  ascribed  to  Almighty  God. 

Another  text  of  Scripture  requiring  a  short  notice  in 
this  chapter  is  written  in  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  John 
(i.  1),  where  we  have  these  words  :  "  The  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  The  reader  will  at  once 
perceive  that  this  text  must  be  understood,  not  in  a  literal, 
but  in  a  figurative  sense.  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
presupposes  His  death,  and  therefore  indicates  His  life  or 
soul  as  being  separated  from  the  body.  When  it  is  said 
in  the  Bible,  therefore,  that  "■  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
cleanseth  from  all  sin,"  we  are  to  understand  that  the 
disembodied  soul  of  Christ  while  in  Hades  made  the  most 
ample  satisfaction  for  human  transgression,  and  that  its 
atoning  efficacy  is  still  going  on,  and  that  it  will  continue 
to  do  so  till  the  end  of  the  world.  It  is  not  said  ''the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ"  did  or  will  '^  cleanse  from  all  sin ;" 
on  the  contrary,  we  have  this  significant  declaration  in 
the  present  tense  :  ''  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth 
or  is  cleansing  from  all  sin."  We  see,  then,  the  continu- 
ous efficacy  of  that  blood  of  Christ  which  figuratively  re- 
presents His  soul.  One  or  two  passages  from  the  word 
of  God  will  prove  that  the  blood  is  used  for  the  soul  or 
the  life.  In  the  Book  of  Leviticus  (xvii.  11)  we  have 
these  words  :  ''  For  the  life  or  soul  of  the  flesh  is  in  the 
blood :  and  I  have  given.it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to  make 
an  atonement  for  your  souls  :  for  it  is  the  blood  that 
maketh  an  atonement  for  the  soul."     Again,  in  the  Gos- 


168  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

pel  of  St.  John  (vi.  54,  55)  the  Redeemer  speaks  after 
this  manner  :  '*  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my 
blood  hath  eternal  life  ;  for  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and 
niy  blood  is  drink  indeed."  For  a  right  understanding 
of  this  last  text,  we  must  be  careful  to  note  that  our  Lord 
speaks  of  Himself  in  His  sacrificial  character,  and  in  no 
other.  This  is  manifestly  implied  by  eating  His  flesh 
and  drinking  His  blood.  Now  it  is  quite  clear  that  if 
Christ's  flesh  and  blood  are  separated  from  each  other, 
and  they  must  be  separated  before  the  former  can  be  eaten 
and  the  latter  drunk,  He  must  Himself  be  in  a  state  of 
death.  To  eat  the  flesh  of  Christ,  then,  and  to  drink  his 
blood,  is  to  believe  in  the  atoning  efficacy  of  His  death 
and  to  put  one's  whole  trust  and  confidence  in  it  alone  for 
pardon  and  salvation.  Hence  our  Lord  says  (John  vi.  47), 
"  He  that  believeth  in  me  hath  everlasting  life ;"  which 
words  distinctly  teach  that  to  believe  in  the  Son  of  God, 
and  to  eat  His  flesh  and  drink  His  blood,  are  identical  in 
signification. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

The  doctrine  of  *' Substitution"  defended — Christ  a  consenting  party 
in  the  work  of  redemption — Gcd  the  Father  not  vindictive  in  offering 
up  His  Son — Love  and  mercy  actuated  the  Son  in  offering  Himself  up 
— Love  and  mercy  alone  m  ust  be  ascribed  as  the  cause  which  moved 
the  Father  to  permit  the  Son  to  be  sacrificed — "  Substitution"  can- 
not be  denied  on  the  ground  that  the  substitute  has  not  suffered  all 
the  consequences  entailed  through  the  offender's  disobedience — Adam 
and  Christ  the  representatives  of  human  nature — The  disobedience  of 
Adam  and  the  obedience  of  Christ  contrasted — The  question  as  to  the 
length  of  time  Christ  suffered — The  reasons  generally  given  why 
Christ  descended  into  Hades  considered — The  absurdity  and  futility 
of  transubstantiation. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  the  atonement,  we  feel 
bound  to  say  a  few  words  in  answer  to  other  objections 
which  have  recently  been  advanced  against  the  doctrine 
of  ''  Substitution."  The  doctrine  of  ''  Substitution"  is  ob- 
jected to  on  the  ground  that  it  represents  God  the  Father 
as  cruel  and  vindictive  in  delivering  up  His  innocent  Son 
to  suffer  the  punishment  due  to  guilty  man.  This  objec- 
tion is  one-sided  and  superficial,  inasmuch  as  it  entirely 
overlooks  the  prominent  fact,  that  Christ  was  a  willing 
and  consenting  party  to  the  undertaking  of  human  re- 
demption. This  is  manifestly  implied  in  many  passages 
of  Scripture,  three  of  which  I  shall  adduce.  In  the  Gospel 
of  St.  John  (x.  18)  we  have  these  remarkable  words : 
'*  No  man  (literally,  no  one)  taketh  my  life  from  me,  but 
I  lay  it  down  of  myself  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down, 
and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again."  Again,  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Hebrews  (ix.  14)  it  is  written,  that  Christ 
''through  the  Eternal  Spirit  offered  Himself  without  spot 
to  God."  And  in  the  same  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (x.  12), 
we  read  to  this  purpose  :  "  But  this  man,  after  He  had 
offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins  forever,  sat  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  God."     These  three  texts  cited  from  the 

(169) 


170  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

Bible  pro^e,  to  a  demonstration,  that  the  death  of  Christ 
was  a  voluntary  death.  We  cannot  perceive  a  shadow 
of  compulsion  in  any  one  step  of  the  Saviour's  redemptive 
history.  Now,  considering  that  our  Blessed  Lord,  so 
far  as  His  Divine  nature  was  concerned,  had  nothing  to 
gain  by  redeeming  man  from  eternal  perdition,  what  could 
have  induced  Him  to  undergo  such  unprecedented  degra- 
dation and  such  unparalleled  sufferings  in  order  to  ac- 
complish so  stupendous  a  work  ?  Infinite  love  and  bound- 
less mercy  must  have  moved  the  Divine  Being  to  procure 
man's  everlasting  salvation.  No  other  cause  can  be  as- 
signed* Then,  since  love  and  mercy  alone  moved  the 
Son  of  God  to  offer  Himself  to  the  Eternal  Father  as  a 
sacrifice  for  human  transgression,  how  can  it  be  said  that 
he  was  treated  either  with  cruelty  or  vindictiveness  ? 
His  having  voluntarily  presented  Himself  as  an  immola- 
tion on  the  altar  of  God,  excludes  every  idea  of  compul- 
sion, or  coercion ;  and  if  there  were  neither  compulsion 
nor  coercion  connected  with  the  act,  we  are  constrained 
to  infer  that  the  entire  responsibility  rests  with  Him  who 
first  manifested  His  willingness  to  become  a  substitute  for 
sinful  man.  In  the  suffering  inflicted  upon  the  Son  there 
was,  therefore,  neither  unfairness  nor  injustice.  Can 
cruelty  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  Father  ?  We  answer 
with  an  emphatic  no.  Bearing  in  mind  that  the  Messiah 
was  God's  Son,  His  only  Son,  and  His  Beloved  Son,  we 
can  be  at  no  loss  in  ascertaining  the  moving  cause  by 
which  the  Father  was  induced  to  deliver  up  His  Beloved 
One  as  a  ransom  for  the  sins  of  a  lost  and  ruined  world. 
Nothing  but  love  and  mercy  can  be  ascribed  as  the 
cause  which  moved  the  Father  to  permit  His  only  be- 
gotten Son  to  be  made  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the 
human  race.  The  truth  of  this  assertion  we  learn  from 
Scripture,  for  it  is  therein  written  (John  iii.  16),  ''  God  so 
loved  the  world  (meaning  mankind)  that  He  gave  His  only 
begoUen  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  To  assert,  then,  that 
the  Son  of  God  was  ill  used  in  becoming  a  ''  Substitute" 
for  man,  or  to  affirm  that  the  Father  was  cruel  and  vin- 
dictive in  the  acceptance  of  such ''  Substitution,"  is  a  gross 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  HI 

misrepresentation  of  the  whole  facts  and  nature  of  the 
case.  Every  phase  in  human  redemption  is  stamped  with 
the  love  and  mercy  of  God  the  Father,  God  the  8on,  and 
God  the  Holy  Ghost.  These  facts,  I  trust,  sufficiently 
answer  the  first  objection. 

The  doctrine  of  "  Substitution'^  has  also  been  ridiculed 
and  even  scouted,  because  Christ  did  not  suffer  in  His  owq 
person  each  phase  and  every  degree  of  punishment  that 
man  has  been  compelled  to  undergo.  These  objectors 
imagine  that  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  ''  Substitu- 
tion," unless  the  substitute  bear  the  entire  consequences 
entailed  through  the  offender's  disobedience.  I  .give  a 
most  unqualified  denial  to  the  soundness  of  this  objection, 
add*  consider  it  unreasonable,  unphilosophical,  and  un- 
scriptural.  I  venture  to  assert  that  there  is  scarcely  an 
instance  on  record  in  which  the  entire  punishment  due  to 
the  guilty  was,  or  ever  could  be,  inflicted  upon  the  ''  Sub- 
stitute." Let  us  illustrate  this  by  example.  Supposing 
a  certain  debtor  owed  his  creditor  a  large  sum  of  money, 
and  in  consequence  of  not  having  the  wherewithal  to  pay 
the  amount,  was  cast  into  prison,  and  compelled  to  remain 
there  until  the  debt  was  liquidated.  It  is  manifest  that 
his  incarceration  will  be  prolonged  till  there  shall  have 
been  a  settlement  of  the  account.  Granting  that  the  man 
thus  treated  has  a  wife  aod  family  dependent  upon  him 
for  support,  and  assuming  that  he  had  the  feelings  and 
affection  that  a  husband  and  a  father  ought  to  have,  who 
can  measure  the  anguish,  distress,  and  misery  both  of  the 
prisoner  and  his  wife  and  family  so  long  as  he  is  detained 
in  custody?  Now,  supposing  further  that  some  friend, 
out  of  love  to  the  debtor,  and  moved  by  pity  for  the  wife 
and  children,  should  undertake  to  pay  the  whole  amount 
in  money,  or,  indeed,  submit  to  imprisonment  for  a  time 
until  he  had  procured  the  means  essential  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  the  creditor,  would  any  one  imagine  for  a  mo- 
ment that  the  "■  Substitute"  could  feel  one  jot  of  the  pain 
and  punishment  which  the  debtor,  and  his  wife  and  help- 
less children,  must,  of  necessity,  experience?  His  im- 
prisonment, on  the  contrary,  would  be  rendered  more  tol- 
erable from  a  consciousness  of  the  fact  that  in  thus  suffer- 


112  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

ing  he  was  doing  a  noble,  unselfish,  and  generous  deed, 
in  causing  a  whole  family  to  be  delivered  from  ignominy, 
wretchedness,  misery,  and  starvation.  Would  it,  there- 
fore, be  logically  true  to  deny  that  there  had  been  any 
**  Substitution"  made,  merely  because  the  innocent  party 
did  not  suffer  all  the  consequences  necessarily  arising 
from  the  inability  of  the  debtor  to  settle  his  creditor's 
account  in  due  time  ?  It  is  impossible  in  the  very  nature 
of  things  that  the  innocent,  in  becoming  a  "  Substitute" 
for  the  guilty,  should  undergo,  in  its  various  ramifications, 
all  the  punishment  that  would  be  inflicted  upon  the 
offender  himself.  Men  repent,  feel  remorse,  experience 
shame,  and  are  occasionally  driven  almost  to  desperation, 
in  consequence  of  the  sins  they  have  at  certain  times 
committed ;  but  our  Divine  Master  could  not  have  had  any 
such  feelings.  His  righteous  soul  could  not  have  been 
distressed  by  any  one  of  them.  Never  having  been  guilty 
of  sin,  He  could  not,  properly  speaking,  repent ;  and  never 
having  failed  to  fulfill  any  part  of  God^s  law,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  Him  ever  to  promise  amendment  of  life.  We  see, 
then,  the  unreasonableness  of  expecting  the  innocent ''  Sub- 
stitute" to  suffer,  in  every  particular,  the  punishment  which 
the  guilty,  if  left  alone,  must  of  necessity  undergo.  In 
determining  the  real  merits  of  a  case  of  this  nature  be- 
tween the  lawgiver  and  the  lawbreaker,  it  is  of  prime  im- 
portance to  ascertain  the  essential  point  that  constitutes 
the  offense,  and  accurately  to  distinguish  between  it  and 
any  consequences  that  may  flow  directly  or  indirectly 
therefrom.  Though  there  exists  a  connection  between 
them,  they  are,  nevertheless,  as  radically  distinct  from 
each  other  as  cause  and  effect.  In  dealing  with  the  doc- 
trine of  "  Substitution"  our  attention  should  be  mainly 
fixed  upon  the  former,  while  we  should  not  be  altogether 
regardless  of  the  latter. 

The  sii^  committed  by  Adam,  which  involved  himself 
and  his  posterity  in  guilt,  consisted  of  one  offense,  namely, 
the  violation  of  a  negative  command.  Through  that  single 
disobedient  act  all  men  became  subject  to  physical  death  in 
this  world,  and  liable  to  eternal  death  in  the  next  world ; 
and  if  nothing  had  been  done  by  way  of  reparation,  the 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  1^3 

whole  human  race  must  ultimately  have  been  consigned 
to  the  everlasting  punishment  of  hell.  Now,  in  order  to 
make  atonement  for  the  sin  thus  committed  by  our  fore- 
father, and  at  the  same  time  to  satisfy  the  violated  law 
and  the  justice  of  God,  the  question  is  this  :  What  degree 
of  punishment  and  what  length  of  time  ought  the  "  Sub- 
stitute" to  have  suffered  ?  In  answering  this  question  we 
must  maintain  the  distinction  before  intimated,  between 
the  original  disobedient  act  and  the  ultimate  consequences 
to  which  that  disobedience  would,  if  not  atoned  for  in  due 
course,  necessarily  lead.  In  making  reparation  for  the 
law  as  violated  by  Adam,  it  was  indispensable  that  the 
''  Substitute"  should  pay  the  penalty  incurred  by  that  one 
unlawful  act. 

Now,  there  are  degrees  in  guilt  and  condemnation,  and 
while  we  believe  that  sin  unrepented  of  will  in  the  end 
lead  to  the  everlasting  torments  of  hell,  we  are  bound, 
however,  to  regard  such  extreme  punishment  not  as  an 
immediate,  but  rather  as  a  final  consequence  of  man's 
original  transgression.  In  showing  how  Christ  bore  the 
punishment  due  to  man's  sin,  or  became  his  ''Substitute," 
we  must  remember  that  both  the  first  Adam  and  the 
second  Adam  were  respectively  the  representatives  of 
human  nature.  What  Adam  did  in  his  own  person  was 
virtually,  therefore,  the  act  of  human  nature,  and  in  like 
manner  that  which  was  done  by  our  Blessed  Lord  in 
His  redemptive  character  as  the  representative  of  our  com- 
mon nature,  is  regarded  in  the  sight  of  God  as  having  been 
effected  by  the  totality  of  mankind.  Christ  being  the  em- 
bodiment of  human  nature.  His  merits  extend  to  all  men, 
and,  consequently.  His  death  is  our  death,  and  His  resur- 
rection the  cause  of  our  resurrection.  One  or  two  exam- 
ples will  serve  to  illustrate  these  facts.  When  God  told 
Adam  that  he  should,  in  consequence  of  his  disobedience, 
die,  and  return  to  that  dust  from  which  he  had  been  taken. 
He  did  not  pronounce  the  sentence  upon  Adam's  loerson 
simply,  but  upon  human  nature  at  large.  Hence  all  men, 
even  the  best  men,  are  subject  to  mortality,  and  in  due 
course  revert  to  the  dust,  after  the  example  of  their  pro- 
genitor.    Had  the  sentence  been  leveled  against  the  per- 


174  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

sonality  of  Adam  instead  of  human  nature,  which  he 
represented,  Adam  alone  would  have  died ;  while  all  his 
posterity  must  have  been  free  from  death.  This  great 
truth  will  be  more  fully  developed  by  noticing  a  text  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (vii.  4-10),  which  evidently 
bears  on  this  subject.  The  apostle  thus  speaks  in  the 
portion  of  Scripture  under  examination:  '^Now  consider 
how  great  this  man  was,  unto  whom  even  the  Patriarch 
Abraham  gave  the  tenth  of  the  spoils.  And,  verily,  they 
that  are  of  the  sons  of  Levi,  who  receive  the  office  of  the 
priesthood,  have  a  commandment  to  take  tithes  of  the 
people  according  to  the  law,  that  is,  of  their  brethren, 
though  they  come  out  of  the  loins  of  Abraham :  But  he 
whose  descent  is  not  counted  from  them,  received  tithes  of 
Abraham,  and  blessed  him  that  had  the  promises.  And 
without  all  contradiction  the  less  is  blessed  of  the  better. 
And  here  men  that  die  receive  tithes ;  but  there  he  re- 
ceived them  of  whom  it  is  witnessed  that  he  liveth.  And 
as  I  may  so  say,  Levi  also,  who  receiveth  tithes,  paid 
tithes  in  Abraham.  For  he  was  yet  in  the  loins  of  his 
father,  when  Melchisedec  met  him."  The  event  to  which 
the  apostle  alludes  is  narrated  in  the  Book  of  Genesis 
(xiv.  18,  19,  20),  where  we  learn  that  on  Abraham's  re- 
turn from  the  slaughter,  he  was  met  by  Melchisedec,  from 
whom  he  received  bread  and  wine:  and  then  gave  Mel- 
chisedec the  tenth  part  of  all  that  he  had.  Then,  inas- 
much as  Abraham  gave  to  Melchisedec  the  tithes  of  all 
that  he  had,  the  apostle  informs  us  that  Levi,  through 
Abraham,  paid  tithes,  because  he  was  in  the  loins  of  his 
father  Abraham  at  the  time  that  the  latter  paid  them  to 
Melchisedec.  Levi  was  the  fourth  generation  from  Abra- 
ham, and  yet  he  is  regarded  as  having  virtually  done  that 
which  actually  took  place  many  years  before  he  was  born. 
In  a  similar  sense,  then,  that  which  was  done  by  Adam 
as  a  representative  character,  was  done  by  human  nature; 
and  that  which  was  effected  by  Christ  as  a,  representative 
character  of  man,  was  also  effected  by  human  nature. 

We  should  not  forget  that  all  the  personalities  are  in- 
cluded in  the  nature,  and,  therefore,  whatever  was  done 
by  the  latter  must  of  necessity  have  been  efifected  by  the 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  175 

former:  and  on  this  account  it  is  that  the  merits  of  the 
Redeemer  are  commensurate  with  the  effects  produced  by 
the  disobedience  of  Adam.  The  foregoing  remarks  will 
sufficiently  explain  such  passages  as  the  following,  in 
which  we  plainly  see  the  twofold  aspect  in  which  man- 
kind were  represented  by  the  first  and  second  Adam : — 

''Nevertheless,  death  reigned  from  Adam  to  Moses, 
even  over  them  that  had  not  sinned  after  the  similitude 
of  Adam's  transgression,  who  is  the  figure  of  Him  that 
was  to  come.''     (Rom.  v.  14.) 

"For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  the  many  were 
made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  the  one  (meaning 
the  man  Christ)  the  many  shall  be  made  righteous." 
(Rom.  V.  19.) 

*'For  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even 
so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."    (I.  Cor.  xv.  21,  22.) 

''The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living  soul ;  the  last 
Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit."     (I.  Cor.  xv.  45.) 

Since  the  wisdom  of  God  saw  fit  to  treat  all  men  as 
sinners  in  consequence  of  the  disobedience  of  the  one  man 
Adam ;  it  was  only  just  in  the  nature  of  things  that  all 
men  should  be  conditionally  credited  with  the  benefits 
arising  from  the  obedience  of  Christ. 

Hence  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (xi.  32),  we  have 
this  declaration:  "For  God  hath  concluded  them  all  in 
unbelief,  that  He  might  have  mercy  upon  all." 

The  final  question  respecting  the  atonement  made  by 
the  Redeemer  in  Hades  still  remains  to  be  answered. 
This  question  is  in  reference  to  the  length  of  time  during 
which  He  suffered  anguish  in  the  dungeon  of  the  lost.  I 
am  constrained  to  say  a  few  words  on  this  part  of  our 
subject,  because  it  has  been  denied  that  three  years  could 
be  justly  regarded  as  an  equivalent  to  the  everlasting 
sufferings  of  all  men  in  the  region  of  hell.  Then,  if  three 
years'  suffering  of  the  Messiah  cannot  be  considered 
equal  to  the  human  race  enduring  the  endless  torments 
of  hell,  much  less  will  three  days  and  three  nights'  an- 
guish in  the  nether  world  be  viewed  as  a  satisfactory 
compensation;  and  if  the  preceding  penal  periods  be  re- 


176  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

jected  as  insuflBcient  to  meet  the  demands  of  stern  justice, 
we  cannot  for  one  moment  imagine  that  full  expiation  for 
sin  was  made  by  our  Lord's  suffering  six  hours  on  the 
cross.  The  objection  can  in  no  way  be  answered  upon 
the  ground  that  Christ  was  both  Divine  and  human, 
since  it  was  not  His  Godhead,  but  His  manhood  that 
suffered  ;  neither  will  the  objection  be  met  by  taking  into 
account  the  innocence  of  His  nature  and  the  spotlessness 
of  His  character,  because  both  were  essential  qualifica- 
tions for  His  becoming  a  sacrifice.  It  was  indispensable 
that  He,  as  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  men,  should  be 
without  blemish  and  without  spot.  Those  who  believe 
the  atonement  received  its  completion  on  the  accursed 
tree  tell  us  that  Christ  descended  into  hell  or  Hades  to 
fulfill  one  of  the  conditions  of  human  nature,  which  is,  to 
go  after  death  into  Hades  and  remain  there  till  the  gen- 
eral resurrection ;  that  He  remained  in  that  region  till 
the  third  day  to  prove  the  truth  of  His  death ;  that  He 
stayed  no  longer  than  the  third  day  lest  ''  His  flesh 
should  see  corruption." 

These  reasons  for  our  Lord's  descent  into  Hades  and 
His  stay  for  a  limited  time  among  the  departed  are,  in 
my  judgment,  neither  conclusive  nor  satisfactory,  and 
therefore  I  must  be  permitted  to  express  my  dissent  from 
them.  Granting  that  the  going  of  souls  after  death  into 
Hades  is  one  of  the  conditions  of  human  nature,  yet  it  is 
by  no  means  an  absolute  condition,  since  the  whole  world 
of  human  beings  at  the  second  Advent  will  not  descend 
into  Hades  at  all.  Hades  being  the  waiting-place  both 
for  the  good  and  the  bad  between  the  time  of  death  and 
that  of  the  General  Judgment,  and  it  being  one  of  the 
conditions  of  human  nature  that  the  disembodied  souls 
of  men  should  go  and  remain  there  till  that  solemn  event, 
why  did  not  our  Lord's  soul  stay  in  that  region  if  His 
sole  object  in  descending  thither  was  to  prove  to  the 
world  the  fact  of  His  death  ?  The  fact  of  the  Redeemer 
descending  into  Hades  and  returning  thence  within  a 
specified  time  clearly  shows  that  He  did  not  go  there  as 
a  condition  of  human  nature.  Had.  he  gone  down  to  the 
nether  world  under  the  same  condition  and  circumstances 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  177 

that  other  men  are  compelled  to  go,  He  must,  like  them, 
have  remained  there  till  the  resurrection  morning.  We 
must  then  deny  that  his  object  iu  visiting  the  unseen 
world  was  to  fulfill  one  of  the  conditions  of  human  nature. 
What  shall  we  say  then  in  reference  to  His  remaining 
in  Hades  till  the  third  day,  in  order  to  prove  that  He  was 
dead  ?  If  our  Redeemer's  temporary  sojourn  in  the  next 
world  was  merely  designed  to  prove  the  truth  of  His 
death,  it  seems  somewhat  remarkable  that  so  important  a 
truth  has  not  been  made  more  prominent  in  the  living  ora- 
cles of  God.  After  dying  a  shameful  death  on  the  cross, 
in  the  presence  of  some  thousands  of  spectators,  who  had 
flocked  to  Jerusalem  from  various  countries ;  after  His 
lifeless  body  was  permitted  to  hang  upon  the  tree  for  a 
considerable  time  subsequent  to  His  death,  and  after  the 
multitudes  of  eye-witnesses  could  testify  to  the  fact  of  such 
death,  does  it  not  seem  strange  and  almost  unaccountable 
that  our  Saviour  in  His  disembodied  state  should  go  into 
the  next  world,  and  remain  there  till  the  third  day  in 
order  to  prove  that  he  was  dead?  Did  not  the  enemies 
of  the  Redeemer  draw  near  for  the  purpose  of  breaking 
His  legs,  but  refrained  from  that  cruel  operation,  because 
they  found  that  He  was  already  dead  ?  Was  that  fact  not 
patent  to  all  the  dwellers  at  Jerusalem  that  were  disposed 
to  satisfy  themselves  therewith  ?  Then,  if  our  Lord  had 
already  departed  this  life,  and  such  multitudes  were  eye- 
witnesses of  His  death,  what  possible  need  could  there  be 
for  His  going  and  remaining  in  Hades  merely  to  prove 
that  which  was  already  proved,  namely,  the  fact  of  His 
death  ?  Again,  why  should  not  a  longer  or  shorter  time 
than  three  days  and  three  nights  be  required  to  prove 
that  our  Saviour  was  really  dead  ?  Would  not  one  night 
have  answered  the  same  purpose?  How  was  it  possible 
for  the  death  of  our  Lord  to  be  proved  by  the  detention 
of  His  body  in  the  grave  three  days  and  three  nights  any 
more  than  if  that  corpse  had  been  kept  in  the  tomb  three 
hours  ?  If  it  is  necessary  to  bury  a  dead  man  who  is 
known  to  be  lifeless  in  order  to  prove  that  he  is  dead,  we 
may  rest  fully  assured  that  the  length  of  time  during 
which  he   remains   in   the   earth    will   be   a   matter  of 

12 


178  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

secondary  consideration.  One  hour  would  be  as  convinc- 
ing as  one  year,  and  one  year  as  convincing  as  a  century. 
If  one  night,  or  indeed  two  or  tliree  hours,  would  not 
suffice  to  demonstrate  that  a  man  was  really  dead  whose 
lifeless  body  could  be  seen  and  gazed  upon  by  an  almost 
countless  number  of  witnesses  prior  to  his  burial,  we  feel 
certain  that  the  fact  could  not  be  proved  by  his  lying  in 
the  grave,  how  long  soever  it  might  be  under  interment. 
Why  did  our  Lord  not  stay  in  the  unseen  world  beyond 
the  third  day  ?  Lest  His  flesh,  so  we  are  given  to  under- 
stand, ''  should  see  corruption  "  Supposing  our  Lord  did 
remain  in  Hades  until  the  third  day,  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  proving  the  fact  of  His  death,  that  length  of  time, 
and  no  greater  period,  must  have  been  essential  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  that  special  object,  and  therefore  it  cannot 
be  true  to  say  that  He  did  not  sojourn  beyond  the  third 
day  in  the  other  world,  lest  "•  His  flesh  should  see  corrup- 
tion.'^  Again,  if  it  were  necessary  that  the  disembodied 
soul  of  our  Lord  should  return  from  Hades  on  the  third 
day,  and  take  His  dead  body,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
latter  from  putrefying  in  the  monument  of  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea,  it  can  no  longer  be  said  that  He  remained  that 
length  of  time  in  the  next  world  to  prove  the  truth  of  His 
death  :  for,  according  to  this  view  of  the  case,  the  dura- 
tion of  His  stay  among  the  departed  dead  was  entirely 
determined  by  the  length  of  time  His  corpse  could  be 
kept  free  from  corruption.  It  is  therefore  evident  that  no 
definite  period  was  fixed  for  His  stay  in  the  other  world, 
since  it  depended  upon  His  body  seeing  corruption.  The 
necessary  inference  from  the  preceding  remarks  is,  that 
our  Lord  did  not  go  into  Hades  to  fulfill  one  of  nature's 
conditions,  neither  did  He  remain  till  the  third  day  to 
prove  the  fact  of  His  death,  and  therefore  He  must  have 
gone  thither  for  other  reasons  than  those  we  are  com- 
bating. Now,  I  maintain  that  there  was  not  the  slightest 
need  for  our  Redeemer's*  soul  to  go  into  Hades,  neither 
indeed  could  He  have  descended  there,  had  He  finished 
the  great  work  of  the  atonement  by  His  death  on  Calvary. 
Hades  could  have  exercised  no  power  over  Him,  but  we 
know  that  death  had  dominion  over  Him  till  He  rose 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  1^9 

from  the  dead.  Our  Lord  descended  into  Hades  to  sufifer 
in  man's  stead  and  to  take  away  the  sting  of  death.  The 
fact,  too,  of  our  Redeemer's  rejoicing  (Ps.  xvi.)  at  the 
prospect  of  His  soul  not  being  left  in  Hades  clearly 
proves  that  He  must  have  been  suffering  there.  Had  He 
been  in  the  enjoyment  of  happiness  while  in  that  region, 
why  should  He  have  expressed  such  gladness  ? 

Considering  that  human  nature  was  represented  in 
Adam  and  also  by  Christ,  and  that  the  former  was  a  figure 
of  the  latter,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  duration  of  our 
Lord's  sojourn  in  the  prison  of  Hades  should  be  deter- 
mined by  the  length  of  time  that  Adam  was  in  the  garden 
of  Eden.  I  merely  give  this  as  an  opinion  and  nothing 
more,  and  therefore  the  reader  may  accept  or  reject  it  as 
he  pleases.  The  settlement  of  this  point  is  not  essential 
to  salvation ;  but,  nevertheless,  we  ought,  if  possible,  to 
discover  the  reason  of  His  remaining  in  Hades  so  long 
and  no  longer.  By  this  view  our  Blessed  Saviour  would 
be  banished  from  the  presence  of  God,  which  will  be  the 
portion  of  all  the  condemned  (Ps.  ix.  It),  the  same 
length  of  time  that  Adam  was  permitted  to  be  in  His 
presence ;  and  this  is  the  fact  which  constitutes  the  main 
point  of  Substitution,  properly  so  called,  in  the  redemptive 
history  of  Christ.  This  was  real  *'  Substitution,"  and 
consequently  no  believer  in  going  to  Hades  can  experi- 
ence the  sting  of  death,  for  Christ  has  experienced  that 
sting  in  hi!^  stead.  This  suffering  atoned  for  human  na- 
ture, destroyed  the  power  of  death,  and  effected  man's 
redemption  both  in  body  and  soul.  Since  God  created 
nothing  after  the  sixth  day,  Adam  must  have  named  all 
the  animals  on  the  day  that  he  was  created,  because  it 
was  after  he  had  given  proper  designations  to  the  inferior 
animals  that  he  discovered  the  want  of  a  suitable  com- 
panion for  himself  Eve,  therefore,  was  made  after  the 
naming  of  the  animals.  Now,  assuming  it  to  be  true  that 
the  Jewish  Sabbath,  or  Saturday,  is,  and  ever  has  been, 
since  the  time  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  seventh 
day  of  the  week,  the  formation  of  Adam  and  Eve  and  the 
naming  of  the  animals  must  have  taken  place  on  the 
Friday  or  the  day  immediately  preceding  the  Sabbath. 


180  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

I  take  it,  then,  that  our  iBrst  parents  remained  in  Para- 
dise a  portion  of  Friday,  the  whole  of  Friday  night,  and 
all  Saturday  till  late  in  the  evening  or  very  early  on  the 
Sunday  morning,  when  their  expulsion  would  be  effected. 
According  to  this  view,  our  Lord  did  not  only  suffer  in 
Hades  the  exact  length  of  time  that  Adam  was  in  the 
garden  of  Eden,  but  also  on  the  very  same  days  of  the 
week.  In  Genesis  (iii.  8)  we  read  thus:  "And  they 
heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God  walking  in  the  garden 
in  the  cool  of  the  day  :  and  Adam  and  his  wife  hid  them- 
selves from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God  among  the 
trees  of  the  garden.^'  By  the  ''  cool  of  the  day  "  is  meant 
the  evening,  which  most  probably  refers  to  the  evening 
of  the  Sabbath.  Some  time  would  necessarily  elapse  be- 
tween the  fall  and  the  expulsion,  because  sentence  of  con- 
demnation had  to  be  pronounced  upon  the  offenders,  and 
God's  gracious  purpose  of  redeeming  the  world  (Gen.  iii. 
15)  had  to  be  explained  to  Adam,  otherwise  he  might 
have  been  driven  to  despair. 

Bearing  in  mind,  too,  the  activity  of  Satan,  it  is  not 
very  likely  that  he  would  allow  the  ancestors  of  the  human 
race  to  be  long  in  Paradise  before  he  commenced  his  attack, 
which  is  another  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  short- 
ness of  Adam's  stay  in  the  garden  of  Eden. 

Then,  since  the  atonement  for  sin  was  made  by  our 
Lord's  disembodied  soul  in  the  other  world,  and  not  by 
His  death  on  Calvary,  the  judicious  reader  will  at  once 
see  the  absurdity  and  futility  of  any  such  doctrine  as  that 
of  transubstantiation. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  nonconformists'  view  with  respect  to  the  locality  of  the  soul  prior 
to  the  general  judgment  considered — If  their  opinion  be  correct,  the 
judgment-day  shown  to  be  a  solemn  mockery — The  devils  not  yet 
finally  judged — Numerous  passages  of  Scripture  brought  to  bear  on 
the  subject — The  five  opinions  as  to  the  locality  and  condition  of  the 
soul  between  death  and  the  general  judgment  summed  up — Con- 
clusion. 

We  have  now  to  bring  before  the  reader  the  Fifth 
Opinion  respecting  death  and  its  consequences,  which 
answers  the  views  of  the  great  body  of  nonconformists, 
the  greater  portion  of  whom  believe  and  teach  that  as 
soon  as  the  soul  leaves  the  body,  it  goes  at  once  into 
heaven  or  hell,  and  that  this  difference  of  course  is  made 
in  accordance  with  their  conduct  in  the  present  world.  I 
may  say  that  this  opinion  is  perhaps  the  most  general  of 
any  ;  and  yet  a  critical  examination  will  abundantly  prove 
that  it  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  sanctioned  by  Scripture, 
but  tends  to  involve  the  grand  scheme  of  redemption  in 
the  utmost  confusion. 

For,  be  it  observed,  that  if  souls  at  death  go  imme- 
diately into  heaven  or  hell,  their  final  abode,  how  comes 
it  to  pass  that  God  hath  appointed  a  day  (Acts  xvii.  31) 
in  the  which  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by 
that  man  whom  He  hath  ordained,  whereof  He  hath 
given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  He  hath  raised  him 
from  the  dead  ?  Are  we  not  told  in  Scripture  that  the 
Son  of  man,  at  the  last  day,  will  sit  as  a  mighty  King 
upon  the  throne  of  His  glory ;  and  before  Him  shall  be 
gathered  all  nations,  and  He  Himself  shall  separate  them 
one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from 
the  goats  ;  and  that  He  will  say  to  the  sheep.  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  My  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 

(181) 


182  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ?  And  to  the  goats, 
or  those  on  the  left  hand,  He  will  say,  "■  Depart  from  Me, 
ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels?"    See  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  xxv.  31-46. 

Now,  if  the  souls  of  men  go  directly  after  death  into 
heaven  or  to  hell,  their  eternal  habitation,  how  can  our 
Lord  say  to  the  righteous,  *'  Come,  ye  blessed  of  My 
Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  ;"  or  to  the  wicked,  "  Depart 
from  Me^  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire"  ?  Supposing 
heaven  or  hell  to  be  the  receptacle  of  the  departed  on 
leaving  this  world,  by  the  time  the  day  of  judgment 
arrives  nearly  all  the  human  race  would  be  either  in  the 
one  place  or  in  the  other ;  and  consequently  the  only  few 
to  be  tried  at  the  bar  of  God  must  be  such  as  shall  be 
found  alive  on  the  earth  at  the  second  advent  of  Christ. 
And,  moreover,  we  are  taught  by  the  Divine  records  that 
Christ  shall  come  at  the  end  of  the  world  to  judge  both 
the  quick  and  the  dead  ;  but  if  the  opinion  of  dissenters 
be  true,  He  can  come  to  judge  only  the  quick,  for  the  final 
doom  of  the  dead  will  have  been  fixed ;  and,  in  some 
cases,  even  centuries  before  the  incarnation  of  the  Judge 
Himself  And  for  the  future  we  must  say,  in  repeating 
the  Nicene  Creed,  that  Christ  shall  come  to  judge  the 
quick,  and  not  *'  the  quick  and  the  dead,"  because  the 
fate  of  the  latter  will  have  been  already  settled. 

We  must  be  careful  to  note  the  peculiar  significance  of 
the  words  "  all  nations,"  for  they  do  not  mean  a  part  of 
mankind  out  of  all  nations,  such  as  might  be  considered 
as  representative  samples,  but  they  denote  all  the  immor- 
tal beings  that  have  ever  existed  in  every  nation  under 
the  whole  heavens.  Is  it,  I  would  ask,  conceivable,  then, 
at  the  glorious  and  fearful  day  of  accounts  that  all  those 
in  heaven  will  be  brought  out  of  their  resting-place  in 
order  to  stand  in  the  presence  of  their  God  to  be  judged  ? 
And  shall  all  the  lost  spirits  in  hell  be  released  from  their 
gloomy  dungeons  to  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ,  to  have  their  doom  pronounced  upon  them  ? 
Assuming  it  to  be  true  that  souls  go  to  heaven  or  hell  at 
death,  one  of  these  two  conclusions  must  be  admitted : 
either  all  those  who  have  gone  to  heaven  or  hell  must  be 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES,  183 

brought  back  from  those  places  in  order  to  be  judged,  or 
the  judgment-day,  spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  is  mere  empty 
pomp  and  show,  being  utterly  void  of  signification.  And 
to  speak  of  it  in  the  solemn  way  we  find  it  spoken  of  in 
Scripture,  is  nothing  less  than  the  most  hyperbolical  lan- 
guage and  absolutely  unworthy  of  the  inspired  writers. 

The  reasonableness  and  propriety  of  our  remarks  will 
be  palpable  to  the  reader  on  being  reminded  that  even  the 
devils  themselves  have  not  yet  had  their  final  day  of 
retribution.  And  if  they  have  not  been  subjected  to  such 
a  terrible  ordeal,  they  cannot  possibly  be  in  that  lake  of 
fire  and  brimstone  which  is  to  burn  for  ever  and  ever. 

Let  us  prove  from  Scripture  that  the  devils  are  not  in 
hell,  and  that  they  will  not  be  there  till  after  the  last 
great  day.  In  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude  (verse  6)  we  read 
that  the  ''Angels  which  kept  not  their  first  estate,  but  left 
their  own  habitation.  He  hath  reserved  in  everlasting 
chains  under  darknesss  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great 
day.''  It  is  almost  needless  for  me  to  say,  that  if  these 
angels  are  reserved  in  darkness  till  the  judgment-day, 
they  cannot  be  in  hell  before  that  time,  because  hell  is  the 
receptacle  for  all  the  damned  after  the  final  day  of 
judgment.  Again,  in  the  Book  of  Job  (i.  6,  7)  we  have 
the  following  remarkable  passage :  "  Now  there  was  a 
day  w^hen  the  sons  of  God  came  to  present  themselves 
before  the  Lord,  and  Satan  came  also  among  them.  And 
the  Lt)rd  said  unto  Satan,  Whence  comest  thou  ?  Then 
Satan  answered  the  Lord  and  said,  From  going  to  and 
fro  in  the  earth,  and  from  walking  up  and  down  in  it." 

On  the  day  when  the  sons  of  God  presented  themselves 
before  the  face  of  Jehovah,  the  devil  (if  Satan  is  to  be 
considered  as  the  devil  in  this  place)  had  the  impudence 
to  appear  among  them,  and  undoubtedly  on  such  an  oc- 
casion he  was  dressed  in  his  best  attire,  having  trans- 
formed himself,  as  the  apostle  says  he  can,  into  an  angel 
of  light.  He  does  not  presume  to  open  his  mouth  until 
addressed  by  the  Creator,  and  on  being  asked  from  what 
quarter  he  came,  the  devil  returned  one  of  the  most  ex- 
traordinary answers  that  could  be  imagined,  and  yet  an 
answer  which  stamped  him  with  that  peculiarity  of  char- 


184  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

acter  for  which  he  has  ever  been  so  remarkable.  "  Whence 
comest  thou?"  This  was  the  question,  and  Satan  an- 
swered and  said,  ''  From  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth  and 
from  walking  up  and  down  in  it."  Here  we  see  that  the 
devil  informed  Jehovah  that  the  earth  was  his  residence 
from  which  he  came.  And  perhaps  it  is  quite  unneces- 
sary for  me  to  remark,  that  the  original  Hebrew  word 
(]nN)  here  rendered  "earth,"  always,  in  the  Bible,  has 
reference  to  this  world.  Hence  the  residence  of  the  devils 
is  the  present  world.  If  the  lost  spirits  were  in  hell,  they 
could  not  be  in  the  earth,  unless  we  ascribe  omnipresence 
as  one  of  their  attributes,  which  would  be  a  monstrous 
absurdity.  In  this  part  of  our  work  we  ought  not  to  for- 
get that  Satan  was  in  the  wilderness  tempting  our  Lord 
(Matt.  iv.  1-11),  but  how  could  he  be  in  the  desert,  if 
he  and  his  angels  were  already  in  the  dungeon  of  the 
damned,  or  more  properly  in  hell  itself?  A  finite  and 
created  spirit  cannot  be  in  two  places  at  one  and  the 
same  time.  The  enemy  of  God  and  man  appeared  in  the 
garden  of  Eden,  and  seduced  our  first  parents,  which  he 
could  not  have  accomplished  had  he  been  chained  in  hell. 
(See  Gen.  iii.  1-8.) 

In  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  (v.  9,  10,  11,  12,  13),  we  are 
informed  that  Jesus  spake  unto  the  devil  and  said,  ''  What 
is  thy  name?  And  he  answered,  saying.  My  name  is  Le- 
gion (which  means  6000,  but  here  is  used  for  an  indefinite 
number),  for  we  are  many.  And  he  besought  Him  much 
that  He  would  not  send  them  away  out  of  the  country. 
Now,  there  was  there  nigh  unto  the  mountains  a  great 
herd  of  swine  feeding.  And  all  the  devils  besought  Him, 
saying.  Send  us  into  the  swine  that  we  may  enter  into 
them.  And  forthwith  Jesus  gave  them  leave.  And  the 
unclean  spirits  went  out,  and  entered  into  the  swine:  and 
the  herd  ran  violently  down  a  steep  place  into  the  sea 
(they  were  about  two  thousand)  and  were  choked  in  the 
sea." 

Here,  again,  we  see  these  fallen  angels  dwelling  in  this 
world,  and  desiring  that  they  might  not  be  sent  out  of  it  he- 
fore  their  time.  How,  then,  can  these  things  be  true,  if  the 
unclean  spirits  are  already  in  the  region  of  the  damned  ? 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  185 

And  docs  not  St.  Peter  tell  us  (I.  Pet.  v.  8)  to  ''be  sober, 
and  vigilant,"  because  our  adversary,  the  devil,  goeth 
about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  be  may  devour  ? 
And  does  not  St.  Paul  say  (11.  Cor.  iv.  5)  that  he  is  the 
god  of  this  world  ?  But  how  can  he  be  the  god  of  this 
world  by  reigning  over  it,  if  he  is  confined  in  hell  ?  And 
again,  the  same  apostle  informs  us  (Eph.  vi.  12)  that  "■  we 
wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  'princi- 
palities and  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of 
this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places." 
Surely  all  these  passages  are  sufficient,  and  more  than 
sufficient,  to  demonstrate  that  the  devils  themselves  are 
not  yet  in  hell,  and  much  less,  indeed,  ought  we  to  sup- 
pose that  men  are. 

To  iSave  no  doubt  upon  our  minds,  we  need  only  pro- 
duce a  few  more  testimonies  to  show  that  the  final  doom  of 
men  has  not  as  yet  been  fixed.  When  our  Lord  sent  His 
apostles  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  various  cities,  he  im- 
pressed upon  their  minds  these  important  words:  "  Who- 
soever shall  not  receive  you,  nor  hear  your  words,  when 
ye  depart  out  of  that  house  or  city,  shake  off  the  dust  of 
your  feet.  Yerily  I  say  unto  you,  it  shall  be  more  toler- 
able for  the  land  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of 
judgment  than  for  that  city."  (Matt.  x.  14,  15.) 

At  the  time  our  Saviour  uttered  these  words,  the  peo- 
ple of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  had  been  dead  1898  years, 
and  yet  their  judgment  is  spoken  of  as  being  in  the  future, 
for  we  should  note  the  words:  our  Lord  says,  '*  it  shall 
be  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of 
judgment  than  for  that  city."  If,  therefore,  men  go  to 
heaven  or  to  hell  as  soon  as  they  quit  this  world,  why 
does  the  Redeemer  say  that  the  inhabitants  of  those  mis- 
erable cities  were  still  awaiting  the  judgment,  although 
they  had  been  dead  nearly  tivo  thousand  years  when  He 
spoke  of  their  future  doom  ? 

Again,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (ii.)  we  learn  that 
St.  Peter,  in  addressing  his  audience,  besought  them  that 
he  might  be  permitted  to  speak  to  them  freely  of  the  patri- 
arch David,  who,  he  said,  \vas  both  dead  and  buried,  and 
that  his  sepulcher  was  still  with  them  even  to  that  day, 


18G  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

and  yet,  in  the  thirty-fourth  verse,  the  apostle  assured  them 
that  David  had  not  at  that  time  ascended  into  the  heavens, 
although  the  patriarch's  death  occurred  a  thousand  years 
before  these  words  were  uttered  by  St.  Peter.  Moreover, 
in  the  Gospel  of  St  John  (iii.  13)  our  Lord  Himself  set- 
tles this  point  by  expressly  stating  that  '^  no  one  hath 
ascended  into  heaven,  except  the  Son  of  man  who  is  in 
heaven;''  and  surely  such  language  as  this  ought  to  be 
deemed  conclusive  enough.  We  may  also  remark  that,  if 
any  one  had  gone  into  heaven  before  the  ascension  of  our 
Lord,  He  could  hardly  be  said  to  have  the  pre-eminence 
in  all  things,  as  it  is  written  (Col.  i.  18),  "And  He  is  the 
head  of  the  body,  the  Church:  who  is  the  beginning,  the 
firstborn  from  the  dead  ;  that  in  all  things  He  might  have 
the  pre-eminence."  And  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrew^s 
(iv.l4;  vi.  20),  Christ  is  spoken  of  as  our  Great  High  Priest, 
''that  is  passed  into  the  heavens,"  and  as  ''our  forerun- 
ner" into  the  same  happy  abode ;  but  these  declarations 
could  scarcely  be  true  if  the  souls  of  men  were  continu- 
ally pouring  into  heaven  prior  to  the  ascension  of  our 
Blessed  Lord.  And  in  addition  to  all  that  we  have  said  on 
this  point,  it  may  be  asked  what  those  spirits  were  doing 
in  the  prison  of  Hades,  to  whom  Christ  is  represented  as 
having  preached,  if  men  go  to  heaven  or  hell  at  once  ? 

Some  would  try  to  overthrow  these  statements  by  sup- 
posing the  judgment  of  every  individual  to  be  when  he 
dies,  but  this  supposition  is  directly  opposed  to  the  whole 
Bible  ;  for,  instead  of  one  judgment-day,  there  would  be, 
according  to  this  opinion,  coantless  millions  of  judgment- 
days,  yes,  as  many  judgments  and  verdicts  as  there  are 
beings  in  the  human  race.  And  in  such  a  case,  how  can 
it  be  said  that  God  has  appointed  a  day  for  the  judgment 
of  the  world  ?  Another  fatal  objection  to  men  having 
the  final  judgment  pronounced  upon  them  and  going  to 
hell  at  death,  is,  that  it  destroys  our  Lord's  intercession^ 
for  He  cannot  be  t\iQ  judge  and  the  advocate  at  the  same 
time.  St.  Paul  says,  our  Redeemer  (Heb.  ix.  24)  "  hath 
entered  into  heaven  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  God /br 
us,"  and  St.  John  tells  us  (I.  John  ii.  1,  2)  that  "  if  any 
man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  even 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE 

Jesus  Christ  the  righteous,  and  He  is 
our  sins."  Now  these  statements  of 
cannot  be  true,  if  our  Lord  is  all  the  time 
judge.  Our  Divine  Master  is  nowhere  represented^ 
judge  till  the  last  great  day,  which  has  been  appointed 
and  fixed  in  the  eternal  counsels  of  God  for  the  final  des- 
tiny of  the  whole  world.  If  the  judgment  is  now  going 
on,  we  have  no  intercessor  in  heaven  ;  and  if  there  be  no 
intercessor  in  heaven,  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament 
must  have  committed  some  sad  errors  in  saying  what  they 
have.  And,  in  concluding  this  part  of  our  subject,  we 
cannot  do  better  than  quote  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  who 
says  (II.  Cor.  v.  10),  "  We  must  all  appear  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ  to  give  an  account  of  the  things 
done  in  the  body,  whether  they  be  good  or  bad."  The 
apostle  says  ''in  the  body"  to  denote  when  we  lived 
on  the  earth,  because  this  world  is  the  only  place  of  pro- 
bation ;  and  if  a  man  is  to  give  an  account  of  the  things 
done  while  he  lived  in  the  body,  his  body  in  all  fairness 
must  be  present  when  he  is  judged. 

There  is  one  passage  more  which  I  have  known  to  be 
brought  forward  against  the  ''  Intermediate  State,"  and 
therefore  we  are  in  justice  bound  to  take  some  notice  of 
it.  The  portion  of  Scripture  to  which  I  refer  is  written 
in  St.  PauPs  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (v.  6,  T, 
8),  where  the  apostle  thus  speaks  concerning  his  earthly 
and  future  life  :  ''  Therefore  we  are  always  confident, 
knowing  that,  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  body,  we  are 
absent  from  the  Lord  :  (For  we  walk  by  faith,  not  by 
sight :)  We  are  confident,  I  say,  and  willing  rather  to  be 
absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord." 
This  passage  is  not  against  the  doctrine  of  Hades,  but  a 
strong  testimony  for  it.  The  words  present  and  absent  are 
not  to  be  taken  here  in  their  common  acceptation,  other- 
wise the  words  of  the  apostle  would  be  a  virtual  denial 
of  the  omnipresence  of  the  Lord.  Do  we  for  a  moment 
imagine  that  we  are  really  absent,  or  out  of  the  reach  of 
the  Lord,  merely  because  we  dwell  in  this  world  ?  And 
do  we  also  fancy  that  heaven  itself  is  the  only  locality 
in  which  we  can  be  present  with  Him  or  He  with  us  ? 


188  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

Perish  the  thought.  Did  not  our  Lord  declare  to  His 
apostles  (Matt,  xxviii.  20)  these  words :  *'  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world"?  Is  it  not 
also  recorded  in  the  Hundred  and  Thirty-ninth  Psalm  that 
Jehovah  is  omnipresent,  thus:  "  Whither  shall  I  go  from 
Tiiy  Spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  Thy  presence  ? 
If  1  ascend  up  into  heaven,  Thou  art  there  ;  if  I  make  my 
bed  in  hell,  behold,  Thou  are' there."  Hell  in  this  latter 
verse  should  be  rendered  Hades,  and  then  it  will  read : 
"If  I  make  my  bed  in  Hades,  Thou  art  there."  Christ, 
then,  in  His  omnipresent  spirit  is  in  Hades.  It  will 
hence  follow  that  those  who  die  in  the  Lord  are  permitted 
to  participate  in  that  blessed  state  in  Hades  which  can 
only  be  fully  enjoyed  by  those  whose  souls  have  been 
liberated  from  their  bodies.  While  in  the  flesh  they  live 
by  faith  in  expectation  of  that  blessedness  which  they 
actually  enjoy  after  death,  because  they  are  then  in  the 
more  immediate  presence  of  God.  In  the  Book  of  Pro- 
verbs (xv.  11)  we  find  it  stated  that  ''Hades  and  destruc- 
tion are  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah  ;"  and  if  Hades  is  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,  it  must  follow  conclusively  that 
those  disembodied  spirits  in  Hades  are  also  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord.  When,  therefore,  it  is  said  that  a  good 
man  is  absent  from  his  body  and  present  with  the  Lord, 
the  meaning  is,  that  his  soul  is  in  the  presence  of  Christ 
in  Hades,  enjoying  that  blessed  state  which  it  only  anti- 
cipated while  in  the  flesh. 

In  the  preceding  portion  of  this  work  concerning  the 
sublime  and  important  doctrine  of  Hades,  I  have  en- 
deavored to  show,  and  I  trust  satisfactorily: — 

1.  That  death  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  the  end  of  man. 
This  was  pointed  out  by  considering  the  composition  of 
a  human  being,  and  by  the  declarations  of  Scripture  rela- 
tive thereto.  Hence  we  conclude  that  there  is  no  founda- 
tion for  the  First  Opinion  by  which  death  is  regarded  as 
the  extinction  of  man. 

2.  We  have  also  proved  from  reason  and  Scripture, 
that  the  good  and  bad  are  not  mingled  together  till  the 
day  of  judgment;  and  therefore  we  conclude  that  the 
Second  Opinion^  which  advocates  that  doctrine,  cannot 
be  true. 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  189 

3.  We  have  demonstrated  from  the  primary  essential 
attribute  of  the  soul  itself,  and  by  an  examination  of  the 
Bible,  that  the  soul,  at  death,  does  not  fall  into  a  profound 
sleep,  losing  all  consciousness  till  the  great  day  of  ac- 
counts ;  though  such  a  view  seems  to  have  been  sup- 
ported by  a  late  dignitary  of  our  Church  and  others  who 
have  followed  the  same  authority.  The  Third  Opinion, 
then,  as  to  the  soul's  sleeping  between  death  and  judg- 
ment, cannot  be  correct,  and  therefore  it  must  be  re- 
jected. 

4.  AVe  have  also  discussed  the  doctrine  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  concerning  purgatory,  and  shown  that 
even  the  passages  of  Scripture  upon  which  they  rely  for 
the  proof  of  that  dogma,  are  against  the  supposition  of 
such  a  place,  and  that  the  whole  tenor  of  Scripture  and 
God's  merciful  dealings  with  man  are  against  it.  The 
doctrine  of  purgatory,  then,  cannot  be  true,  which  consti- 
tutes the  Fourth  Opinion  respecting  the  departed. 

5.  Although  the  Fifth  Opinion  held  by  the  great 
body  of  nonconformists,  as  we  have  clearly  seen,  comes 
nearer  to  the  truth  than  those  already  examined,  it  is  yet 
opposed  to  the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  and  therefore  we 
have  been  compelled  to  treat  it  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
preceding  views.  Since,  then,  the  death  of  the  body  is 
not  the  destruction  of  the  soul ;  since  the  righteous  and 
wicked  are  not  mingled  together  in  one  locality;  since 
the  soul  does  not  enter  into  a  place  of  purgatory  for  its 
further  purification  prior  to  entering  heaven  ;  since  it  does 
not,  at  death,  go  to  heaven  or  hell,  its  eternal  home  ;  and 
since  it  does  not  fall  into  a  state  of  sleep  as  soon  as  it 
leaves  the  body;  it  must  be  in  some  locality,  and  in 
this  locality  it  is  living,  reflecting,  and  conscious  of 
its  own  existence  ;  and  in  this  condition  it  is  bound  to 
remain  till  the  reunion  of  body  and  soul  at  the  resur- 
rection morning.  The  state,  then,  of  disembodied  spirits 
during  this  long  interval  will  form  the  subject  of  the  con- 
cluding part  of  this  work ;  and  I  ought  to  say  that,  in 
speaking  upon  this  condition  of  the  departed,  all  the 
other  views,  of  which  so  much  has  been  said,  will  again 
be  virtually  answered. 


CHAPTER   XXY. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  with  respect  to  the  locality  and 
condition  of  the  soul  between  death  and  the  general  judgment — 
Literal  meaning  of  the  words  *^Sheol,"  ^^  Hades,"  and  '•Heil" — The 
uniform  signification  of  these  words  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Scrip- 
tures— The  inconsistency  of  the  translators  of  our  Authorized  Ver- 
sion in  using  for  ^^Sheol"  and  "Hades"  expressions  totally  different 
in  meaning — The  error  accounted  for — A  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek  as  well  as  Latin  esssntial  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures — The  words  in  the  Greek  Testament  for  "Hades,"  "Grave/* 
and  "  Hell,"  explained — A  list  of  the  leading  names  by  which  Hades 
is  designated  throughout  the  Bible — Isaiah  xxxviii.  17,  explained. 

Having  carefully  examined  all  the  other  views  respect- 
ing the  State  of  the  dead,  I  shall  now  bring  before  the 
reader's  notice  the  doctrine  of  our  Church,  and  it  will  be 
seen,  as  we  advance,  how  thoroughly  Scriptural  she  is 
even  in  this  particular.  The  teaching  of  the  Church  of 
England  on  this  subject  may  be  seen  by  the  following 
prayer  taken  from  the  Service  for  the  Burial  of  the  Dead : 
''  Almighty  God,  with  whom  do  live  the  spirits  of  them 
that  depart  hence  in*the  Lord,  and  with  whom  the  souls 
of  the  faithful,  after  they  are  delivered  from  the  burden 
of  the  flesh,  are  in  joy  and  felicity,  We  give  Thee  hearty 
thanks  for  that  it  hath  pleased  Thee  to  deliver  this  our 
brother  out  of  the  miseries  of  this  sinful  world  ;  beseech- 
ing Thee,  that  it  may  please  Thee,  of  Thy  gracious  good- 
ness, shortly  to  accomplish  the  number  of  Thine  elect, 
and  to  hasten  Thy  kingdom,  that  we,  with  all  those  that 
are  departed  in  the  true  faith  of  Thy  holy  Name,  may 
have  our  perfect  consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body 
and  soul,  in  Thy  eternal  and  everlasting  glory;  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'* 

In  the  preceding  prayer  the  reader  will  observe  that 
those  who  have  departed  this  life  in  faith  are  declared  to 
(190) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE   OF  HADES.  191 

be  "  in  joy  and  felicity,"  and  further  on  the  minister  be- 
seeches God  to  hasten  His  heavenly  kingdom,  that  we, 
who  are  still  living,  together  with  those  who  died  in  the 
true  faith  of  His  holy  Name,  and  who  are  in  consequence 
said  to  be  "in  joy  and  felicity,"  may  have  owv perfect 
consummation  and  bliss,  not  only  in  soul,  but  in  both 
body  and  soul,  and  that,  too,  in  the  ''  eternal  and  everlast- 
ing glory."  This  '^  perfect  consummation  both  in  body 
and  soul"  cannot  be  realized  so  long  as  our  bodies  remain 
in  the  graves,  and  therefore  must  come  to  pass  after  the 
general  resurrection  and  day  of  judgment.  The  doc- 
trine of  our  Church,  then,  is  this — that  the  souls  of  men 
at  death  enter  upon  a  state  of  happiness  or  misery,  ac- 
cording to  the  manner  in  which  they  lived  and  the  condi- 
tion in  which  they  died ;  and  that  this  happiness  or 
misery  is  neither  so  complete  nor  intensified  as  it  will  be 
when  body  and  soul  shall  be  reunited  and  pass,  after  the 
general  judgment,  into  heaven  or  hell.  The  locality  into 
which  the  disembodied  spirits  enter  at  death,  and  in 
which  they  remain  till  the  resurrection  morning,  is  desig- 
nated in  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures 
Sii^iy  (Sheol)  ;  and  in  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  "Adrj^  (Hades).  The  Hebrew  ''  Sheol"  is  com- 
monly supposed  to  be  derived  from  h^^  which  signifies  to 
ask,  to  demand,  because  it  asks  for  or  demands  all  with- 
out any  distinction,  and  yet  is  never  satisfied.  Though 
this  derivation  of  the  word  ''  Sheol"  is  the  one  usually 
accepted,  yet  I  am  disposed  to  agree  with  the  suggestion 
of  Gesenius,  who  thinks  it  is  the  same  with  hp^  to  be 
hollow.  If  this  derivation  of  the  word  "  Sheol"  be  cor- 
rect, and  it  comports  more  accurately  with  the  Biblical 
descriptions  of  the  locality  of  the  departed  dead  than  the 
notion  of  asking  or  demanding  which  is  implied  in  the 
view  generally  taken,  we  can  understand  why  all  those 
who  go  into  Hades  are  said  to  descend.  We  may,  then, 
regard  the  Hebrew  ''Sheol"  as  a  derivative  of  S;;ty  to  be 
hollow ;  or  as  coming  from  4xty  which  denotes,  in  its 
secondary  meaning,  to  dig,  to  excavate,  and  therefore 
''  Sheol"  will  literally  signify  ''  a  hollow  and  subterranean 
place,"  or  a  pit  characterized  by  its  extreme  profundity. 


192  SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

Hades  is  a  Greek  word,  and  literally  means  the  ''  invisible 
place,"  though  I  ought  to  remind  the  reader  that  some 
critics  have  questioned  the  derivation  of  this  word  from 
a  not,  and  idelv  to  see.  The  word  Hell,  in  its  primary 
meaning,  signifies  the  hidden  place,  and  in  this  sense  it  is 
almost  identical  in  significance  with  '*  Sheol"  and  ''  Hades." 
It  is  now,  however,  most  generally  employed  in  a  second- 
ary sense,  denoting  the  habitation  of  the  damned  after 
the  day  of  judgment.  By  a  careful  perusal  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  the  original  and  the  Septuagint  Version,  we 
find  that  '*  Sheol"  and  ''  Hades"  are  words  of  the  same 
import,  the  former  being  frequently  translated  by  the 
latter ;  and  in  the  word  of  God  they  signify  or  indicate 
that  invisible  world  within  the  confines  of  which  the 
separate  souls  of  men  enter,  and  are  therein  detained 
during  the  time  intervening  between  death  and  the  gen- 
eral resurrection,  at  which  critical  period  these  disembodied 
spirits  will  be  removed  thence,  and  received  into  heaven 
or  cast  into  hell,  together  with  their  respective  bodies. 
To  enter,  then,  upon  any  lengthened  disquisition  as  to 
the  derivation  of  ''  Sheol"  or  ''  Hades"  beyond  what  we 
have  already  mentioned  would  be  a  mere  waste  of  time, 
and  altogether  unprofitable.  All  we  need  ascertain  is  the 
Scriptural  meaning  of  the  two  expressions,  and,  having 
succeeded  in  gaining  that  point,  we  can  very  well  afford 
to  dispense  with  this  or  that  opinion  as  to  the  roots  from 
which  they  are  derived.  When  we  meet  with  these  two 
words  in  the  Bible,  what  are  we  to  understand  by  them, 
or  what  meaning  shall  we  attach  to  them  ?  Are  they 
used  in  different  senses  in  different  parts  of  the  Sacred 
Volume  ?  Do  they  in  one  passage  signify  the  grave,  in 
which  the  human  remains  are  deposited,  or  the  locality 
of  our  disembodied  souls  ?  To  answer  and  settle  these 
questions  will  be  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  tend  in 
no  small  degree  to  convince  the  reader  of  the  wonderful 
harmony  in  every  portion  of  God's  holy  word.  Notwith- 
standing, then,  all  that  has  been  written  to  the  contrary, 
I  venture  to  assert  that  **  Sheol"  and  "  Hades"  have 
throughout  the  whole  Bible  one  uniform  signification, 
and  invariably  denote  the  unseen  world  into  which  the 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  193 

separate  souls  of  men  enter  at  death,  and  in  which  they 
remain  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection.  I  know  of 
no  passage  in  the  Bible  in  which  they  have  any  other 
meaning.  Then,  since  these  two  most  important  words 
"  Sheol"  and  ''Hades'^  always  signify  the  invisible  world, 
and  are  employed  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
holy  Scriptures  for  the  mansion  of  disembodied  spirits 
during  the  interval  of  time  elapsing  between  death  and 
the  final  judgment,  we  cannot  avoid  regretting  the  incon- 
sistency manifested  by  the  translators  of  our  Authorized 
Version  (though  taken  in  all  respects  it  is  probably  un- 
equaled  in  excellence  by  any  other  translation)  in  having 
rendered  the  two  words  under  consideration  by  other  ex- 
pressions which  in  no  way  convey  to  the  reader  their  true 
meaning,  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  calculated  to  mislead 
him.  Though  we  feel  the  utmost  gratitude  toward  those 
forty-seven  learned  divines,  and,  at  the  same  time,  are 
wishful  to  give  them  that  tribute  of  praise  to  which  they 
will  ever  be  so  justly  entitled,  yet  candor  and  truth  de- 
mand that,  while  we  in  all  charity  excuse  their  mistakes, 
we  are  in  duty  bound  to  correct  them  when  we  can.  We 
owe  this  duty  to  the  present  and  succeeding  generations. 
Had  they  been  more  accurately  acquainted  with  the 
original  languages  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  they  could 
scarcely  have  fallen  into  the  errors  to  which  we  have 
referred.  We  will  now  give  a  few  out  of  the  many  in- 
stances that  might  be  adduced  of  the  arbitrary  manner 
in  which  *'  Sheol"  is  rendered  in  the  Authorized  Version, 
which,  notvirithstanding  its  many  excellences,  is  not  with- 
out some  inaccurate  translations.  In  the  Book  of  Job 
(xxvi.  6)  "•  Sheol"  is  rendered  hell,  thus:  **  Hell  is  naked 
before  him,  and  destruction  hath  no  covering."  In  the 
Book  of  Genesis  (xlii.  38)  the  very  same  word  is  trans- 
lated grave:  "■  Then  shall  ye  bring  down  my  gray  hairs 
with  sorrow  to  the  grave.^^  Again,  in  the  Book  of  Psalms 
(Ixxxviii.  4)  we  find  ''  Sheol"  rendered^z^ :  *'  I  am  counted 
with  them  that  go  down  into  thepzX"  These  three  texts 
will  serve  as  specimens  of  the  arbitrary  way  in  which  the 
word  "  Sheol"  is  presented  to  the  mere  English  reader. 

13 


194  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES, 

Why  not  give  the  same  meaning  to  the  word  in  each  of 
the  preceding  texts  ?  Nobody,  I  should  imagine,  would 
go  so  far  as  to  assert  that  the  quotation  from  the  Book  of 
Job  requires  '*  Sheol"  to  be  rendered  by  the  word  "■  hell ;'' 
while  the  texts  in  Genesis  and  Psalms  could  only  be 
properly  reflected  by  grave  andpzY. 

We  believe  that  there  does  not  exist  a  text  in  the  sacred 
narrative  where  Sheol  can  signify  tomb,  or  the  place  in 
which  the  human  remains  are  deposited,  that  locality 
being  always  expressed  by  appropriate  words  both  in  the 
Greek  and  in  the  Hebrew  languages. 

Neither  is  Hades  ever  used  for  hell,  the  region  of  the 
damned  after  the  judgment-day,  for  that  place  is  always 
designated  by  Gehenna,  and  called  in  Scripture  the  fire 
which  never  shall  be  quenched.  To  avoid  confusion,  then, 
the  reader  will  please  to  remember  that  whenever  I  make 
use  of  the  word  "■  Hades"  in  the  present  work,  I  always 
mean  the  locality  of  separate  souls  between  death  and  the 
day  of  final  accounts.  And  moreover,  in  employing  the 
expression  **  hell,.'^  I  wish  him  to  understand  by  it,  the 
abode  of  the  damned  after  the  final  day  of  retribution. 
And  further,  I  would  have  him  take  notice  that,  in  quoting 
any  passage  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament  Scriptures, 
I  shall  invariably  mention  what  I  find  in  the  originals  and 
not  what  is  met  with  in  the  translation.  After  this  neces- 
sary precaution,  therefore,  he  will  not  be  surprised  to  find 
me  using  the  word  ''Hades"  wherein  the  English  version 
of  the  Bible  we  have  grave,  pit,  or  hell. 

In  the  Greek  Testament  we  find  three  distinct  words 
for  Hades,  Grave,  and  Hell.  The  grave  is  called  Muvj/ia, 
Mv7)fi£U)v  (Mnema  or  Mnemeion),  hell  is  designated  yeiwa 
(Gehenna),  while  the  ''Intermediate  State"  is  indicated 
by  the  term  adrj^  (Hades),  which  literally  means,  as 
already  intimated,  the  hidden  or  invisible  place.  Accord- 
ing to  the  work  of  a  recent  writer  on  the  subject  of  Hades, 
whose  name  I  do  not  know,  and  therefore  I  cannot  give 
it,  this  locality  has  other  designations  in  Scripture.  Hav- 
ing carefully  examined  his  statements,  to  which  I  am 
indebted  for  several  hints,  and  having  found  that  they 
harmonize  with  Scripture,  I  mention  them.     . 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  195 

This  region  or  common  receptacle  of  disembodied  spirits 
is  characterized  by  the  following  designations  : 

1.  Hades,  which  occurs  in  the  Gospel  according  to  St. 
Luke  (xvi.  23),  where  we  thus  read  of  the  rich  man : 
*'  And  in  hell  (properly  Hades),  he  lift  up  his  eyes,  being 
in  torments,  and  seeth  Abraham  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in 
his  bosom." 

Again,  in  the  Book  of  Psalms  (Ixxxvi.  13)  we  read: 
"  For  great  is  Thy  mercy  towards  me,  and  Thou  hast  de- 
livered my  soul  from  the  lowest  Hades."  Also  in  the 
Forty-ninth  Psalm  and  fifteenth  verse,  it  is  thus  written: 
''But  God  shall  deliver  my  soul  from  the  place  of  Hades, 
for  He  shall  receive  me." 

2.  The  heart  of  the  eai^th,  which  we  find  in  St.  Mat- 
thew's Gospel  (xii.  40),  in  which  place  our  Lord  Him- 
self said  :  *'  For  as  Jonas  was  three  days  and  three  nights 
in  the  whale's  belly,  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  three  days 
and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth.^^ 

3.  The  lower  parts  of  the  earth,  and  it  is  so  named 
by  St.  Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  (iv.  9,  10), 
where  he  thus  speaks  concerning  our  Blessed  Lord : 
**  Now  that  He  ascended,  what  is  it  but  that  He  also  de- 
scended first  into  the  lower ^  parts  of  the  earth  f  He  that 
descended  is  the  same  also  that  ascended  up  far  above  all 
heavens,  that  He  might  fill  all  things." 

4.  Hades  and  Destruction,  which  we  find  in  the  Book 
of  Job  (xxvi.  6),  and  it  is  expressed  after  this  manner  : 
"  Hades  is  naked  before  Him,  and  destruction  hath  no 
covering;"  and  again  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  (xv.  11), 
we  have  it  recorded  thus  :  "  Hades  and  destruction  are 
before  the  Lord :  how  much  more  then  the  hearts  of  the 
children  of  men  ?" 

5.  Death  and  Hades,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Book 
of  Revelation  (xx.  13,  14),  where  the  declaration  of  the 
inspired  writer  is  to  this  effect:  ''And  the  sea  gave  up  the 
dead  which  were  in  it ;  and  Death  and  Hades  delivered 
up  the  dead  which  were  in  them :  and  they  were  judged, 
every  man  according  to  their  works.  And  Death  and 
Hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second 
death." 


196  SORIPTDRAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

6.  Death,  which  is  mentioned  by  the  Prophet  Isaiah 
(liii.  12),  "Therefore  will  I  divide  Him  a  portion  with 
the  great,  and  He  shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong ; 
because  He  hath  poured  out  His  soul  unto  death :  and 
He  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors ;  and  He  bare 
the  sin  of  many,  and  made  intercession  for  the  transgres- 
sors." In  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  (xxvi.  38),  we  have ' 
these  words:  ''Then  saith  He  (Jesus)  unto  them,  My 
soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death.^^  Ezekiel 
(xxxi.  14)  thus  speaks  :  "■  They  are  all  delivered  unto 
death,  to  the  nether  parts  of  the  earth." 

7.  The  Deep,  which  is  spoken  of  by  St.  Paul  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  (x.  6,  7),  where  he  uses  these 
words :  '*  But  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith  speaketh 
on  this  wise.  Say  not  in  thine  heart,  who  shall  ascend 
into  heaven"  (that  is,  to  bring  Christ  down  from  above): 
or,  **  Who  shall  descend  into  the  deep  V  (that  is,  to  bring 
up  Christ  again  from  the  dead). 

Let  us  pause  to  examine  this  text,  which  is  decisive  as 
to  where  Christ  was  between  His  death  and  death  and 
resurrection.  The  word  here  rendered  the  *'  Deep,''''  is  in 
the  original  "J/56><j-^o(^  (^6?/ss),  and  it  is  manifestly  used  by 
the  apostle  for  Hades,  because  to  bring  Christ  from  the 
deep  is  tantamount  to  His  rising  again  from  the  dead. 
His  words  are  these :  "■  Who  shall  descend  into  the  deep  ?" 
(that  is,  '*  to  bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead"). 
Then,  since  the  word  ^' Al^oaaoq  or  the  Abyss  is  used  by 
the  apostle  for  Hades,  the  next  question  is — Does  it 
denote  the  habitation  of  the  righteous  or  the  wicked  dead? 
That  the  expression  signifies  the  abode  of  the  lost  can  be 
proved  beyond  all  contradiction  by  quoting  one  passage 
from  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Luke  (viii.  31),  where 
we  read  thus:  ''And  they  (the  devils)  besought  Him 
(Jesus)  that  He  would  not  command  them  to  go  out  into 
the  deep,^^  literally  the  abyss.  Do  we  not  plainly  see  that 
"  the  abyss"  signifies  that  part  of  the  unseen  world  in 
which  the  lost  dead  dwell,  and  that  the  very  devils  them- 
selves were  terrified  at  the  thoughts  of  going  there,  or 
they  would  not  have  entreated  Jesus  to  permit  them  to 
pass  into  the  swine  ?    That  the  "  abyss"  here  spoken  of 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  197 

is  to  be  the  abode,  for  some  time  at  least,  of  the  devils,  is 
quite  clear  from  the  Book  of  Revelation  (xx.  1-3),  where 
it  is  thus  written :  "  And  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from 
heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit  and  a  great 
chain  in  his  hand.  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that 
old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil,  and  Satan,  and  bound  him 
a  thousand  years.  And  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon  him,  that  he  should 
deceive  the  nations  no  more,  till  the  thousand  years  should 
be  fulfilled  :  and  after  that  he  must  be  loosed  a  little  sea- 
son." (Rev.  XX.  1,  2,  8.)  The  word  rendered  bottomless 
pit  is  ''A[^o(T(joq  (Abyss)  in  the  original,  and  this  was  the 
locality  into  which  our  Lord  descended  and  in  which  He 
sojourned  between  His  death  and  resurrection.  Are  not 
these  facts  amply  sufficient  to  prove  that  Christ  suffered 
among  the  wicked  dead  in  Hades  ? 

8.  TJie  Bottomless  Fit. — *'And  I  saw  an  angel  come 
down  from  heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit.^'* 
(See  Rev.  xx.  1.) 

9.  The  Fit.— {Frov.  i.  12):  ''Let  us  swallow  them 
up  alive  as  the  grave;  whole,  as  those  that  go  down  into 
the  pit. ^^  We  have  another  striking  instance  in  Psalms 
(xxx.  3)  thus:  '' O  Lord,  Thou  hast  brought  up  my 
soul  from  Hades:  Thou  hast  kept  me  alive,  that  I  should 
not  go  down  to  the  jnt.''^     (See  also  Psalms  xxviii.  1.) 

10.  Fit  of  Destruction  —(Psalms  Iv.  23) :  ''But  Thou, 
0  God,  shall  bring  them  down  into  the  pit  of  destruc- 
tion :  bloody  and  deceitful  men  shall  not  live  out  half 
their  days." 

11.  The  Deep. — (Psalms  Ixix.  15):  "Let  not  the 
waterflood  overflow  me,  neither  let  the  deep  swallow  me 
up,  and  let  not  the  pit  shut  her  mouth  upon  me." 

12.  The  Fit  of  Corruption. — (Isaiah  xxxviii.  IT): 
"  Behold,  for  peace  I  had  great  bitterness  :  but  Thou  hast, 
in  love  to  my  soul,  delivered  it  from  the  pit  of  corrup- 
tion :  for  Thou  hast  cast  all  my  sins  behind  Thy  back." 

This  text,  found  in  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah 

(xxxviii.  17),  seems  to  demand  some  little  explanation, 

in  order  that  there  may  be  no  discrepancy  between  it  and 

.  the  other  passages  commented  upon,  in  reference  to  a  soul 


198  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

not  being  released  from  Hades  after  its  consignment  to 
that  locality.  Hezekiah,  it  will  be  observ^ed,  declares 
that  God  oat  of  love  to  his  soul  delivered  it  from  the 
''pit  of  corruption/^  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  God 
extended  his  natural  life,  and,  therefore,  did  not  permit 
him  to  go  to  that  gloomy  region  of  the  wicked  dead. 
Literally  rendered,  as  in  the  margin  of  our  Authorized 
Version,  it  will  be  to  this  effect:  Thou  hast  so  loved  me 
that  Thou  wouldest  not  allow  my  soul  to  approach  the 
locality  of  the  lost  dead.  Hezekiah  saw  nothing  but  per- 
dition before  him,  had  not  God  been  pleased  to  pardon 
his  iniquity,  and  thus  to  rescue  him  before  it  was  too  late. 
That  Hezekiah  was  thoroughly  convinced  of  there  being 
no  forgiveness  after  his  departure  from  this  world,  is  evi- 
denced by  the  words  of  the  two  following  verses  (18,  19), 
thus :  "  For  the  grave  cannot  praise  Thee,  death  cannot 
celebrate  Thee:  they  that  go  down  into  the  pit  cannot 
hope  for  Thy  truth.  The  living,  the  living,  he  shall 
praise  Thee,  as  I  do  this  day."  In  those  portions  of  the 
Psalms  which  have  already  been  explained,  the  individ- 
ual concerning  whom  the  words  were  penned  was  in 
Hades,  actually  suffering  the  **  sorrows  of  death"  and  the 
"pangs  of  Hades,"  whereas  Hezekiah  never  went  at  all 
to  that  miserable  prison  of  the  condemned. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  given  a  list  of  the  names  by 
which  Hades  is  designated  in  various  parts  of  the  living 
oracles  of  God.  Now  by  keeping  in  mind  this  leading 
idea  of  the  word  "  Hades,"  we  shall  find  it  an  easy  matter 
to  understand  many  texts  in  the  Bible  which  are  other- 
wise inexplicable,  and  concerning  which  the  commenta- 
tors on  Scripture  appear  to  have  been  so  much  in  the 
dark. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  part  of  the  universe  in  which  Hades  is  situated — God's  word  alone 
decisive  on  the  subject  —  Human  objections  in  such  matters  of  no 
weight — God's  ways  not  man's  ways — Bishop  Pearson's  opinion  of 
"Sheol"  and  "Hades"  considered  —  ''Sheol"  and  "Hades"  never 
used  in  the  Bible  for  the  grave  or  receptacle  of  the  human  body- 
Hades  always  represented  in  Scripture  as  being  underneath  the  earth 
—  Why  those  who  go  to  Hades  are  said  to  descend — Genesis  xxxvii. 
33,  35,  fully  explained — Explanation  of  Genesis  xv.  15 — The  distinc- 
tion between  death,  going  to  Hades,  and  burial  clearly  pointed  out 
and  proved  by  texts  of  Scripture — Exposition  of  Numbers  xvi.  33 — 
Examination  of  Philippians  ii.  10. 

We  have  in  the  next  place  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the 
locality,  or  that  particular  region  of  the  universe  in  which 
Hades  is  situated,  and  we  must  here  remember  that  in 
this  inquiry  we  have  nothing  to  guide  us  but  Scripture 
itself.  Whatever  the  declarations  be  which  we  find  in 
God's  word  concerning  the  unseen  world  of  departed 
spirits,  we  are  bound  to  acquiesce  in  them,  however 
peculiar  and  extraordinary  they  may  appear  to  our 
minds :  nor  are  we  called  upon  to  gratify  the  fancies  of 
the  infidel  or  the  skeptic  by  endeavoring  to  furnish  either 
the  one  or  the  other  with  reasons  based  upon  science  and 
geology  for  the  situation  of  Hades  in  any  special  locality. 
Objectors  to  the  mansion  of  Hades,  on  physical  grounds, 
or  on  any  grounds  whatever,  will  find  themselves  fully  an- 
swered by  turning  to  the  Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah  (h^ 
8,  9),  where  the  word  of  God  is  thus  written:  ''  For  my 
thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways 
my  ways,  saith  the  Lord.  For  as  the  heavens  are  higher 
than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways  higher  than  your  ways, 
and  my  thoughts  than  your  thoughts.''  On  so  vital  a 
subject,  and  one  fraught  with  such  deep  interest  to  every 
human  being,  irrespective  of  creed  or  nationality,  it  is 

(199) 


200  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

deeply  consolatory  to  feel  that  the  language  of  Revela- 
tion, and  not  the  ever-changing  opinions  of  men,  must  be 
regarded  as  true  and  decisive. 

Where,  then,  is  Hades  situated?  Hades  is  always  rep- 
resented as  being  underneath  the  earth  ;  and  this  is  the 
reason  why  all  those  who  are  taken  thither  are  said  to 
descend,  or  to  go  down ;  and  returning  thence  is  called 
rising  from  the  dead.  The  first  passage  of  God^s  w^ord 
to  which  we  invite  attention  is  written  in  Genesis  (xxxvii. 
33,  35),  where  we  read  of  Jacobus  sons  taking  the  coat  of 
Joseph,  after  having  dipped  it  in  blood,  to  their  father, 
who  recognized  it  and  immediately  said:  ''An  evil  beast 
hath  devoured  him  ;  Joseph  is,  without  doubt,  rent  in 
pieces ;  and  all  Jacob's  sons  and  daughters  rose  up  to 
comfort  him,  but  he  refused  to  be  comforted  ;  and  he 
said.  For  I  will  go  down  into  Hades  unto  my  son,  mourn- 
ing.'^  We  shall  pause  for  a  few  moments  to  show  that 
Hades  in  this  text  has  that  import  which  we  have  already 
assigned  to  it. 

Dr.  Pearson,  in  his  learned  work  on  the  Creed,  when 
speaking  of  this  text,  tells  us  that  the  word  Sheol,  or 
Hades,  does  in  some  places  mean  no  more  than  the 
gi^ave ;  and  his  authority,  in  the  opinion  of  those  who 
are  more  remarkable  for  following  the  views  of  others 
than  for  exercising  their  own  judgment,  will  be  decisive, 
as  we  have  abundant  reason  to  know.  We  give  his  own 
words,  which  are  as  follows :  "  The  word  which  the 
Psalmist  used  in  Hebrew,  and  the  apostle  in  Greek,  and 
is  translated  hell,  doth  certainly  in  some  other  places  sig- 
nify no. more  than  the  grave,  and  is  translated  so.  As 
where  Mr.  Ainsworth  followeth  the  word.  For  I  will  go 
down  unto  my  son  mourning  to  hell,  our  translation,  aim- 
ing at  sense,  rendereth  it.  For  I  will  go  down  into  the 
grave  unto  my  S(m  mourning.  So  again,  '  Ye  shall  bring 
down  my  gray  hairs  with  sorrow  unto  hell,  that  is,  to  the 
grave.^^  It  is  now  some  years  since  I  read  Bishop  Pear- 
son's book  on  the  Apostles'  Creed,  but,  if  my  memory 
serves  me  rightly,  I  believe  that  he  has  on  the  article.  He 
descended  into  Hell,  contradicted  himself  two  or  three 
times,  and  he  left  an  impression  upon  my  mind  which 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  201 

has  never  been  effaced,  namely,  that  he  felt  bound  to  say 
something  upon  that  descent,  but  really  did  not  know 
what  he  ought  to  say.  In  other  words,  he  had  no  clear 
conception  of  the  nature  of  the  atonement,  and,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  entirely  failed  to  see  the  drift  of 
those  passages  in  the  word  of  God  which  have  special 
reference  to  the  detention  of  our  Lord's  soul  among  the 
lost  dead.  The  Hebrew  Sheol  and  the  Greek  Hades  are 
never  used  for  the  grave,  and  when  the  reader  has  atten- 
tively considered  our  exposition  of  the  text  in  question, 
he  will,  I  trust,  be  satisfied  with  the  truth  and  accuracy 
of  our  statements. 

Let  it  be  noted,  then,  that  Hades  is  never  used  for 
heaven,  and  therefore  it  cannot  have  that  signification  in 
the  text  under  consideration  ;  and,  indeed,  supposing  it 
had  been  intended  by  the  patriarch  for  heaven,  he  ought 
to  have  said  he  would  go  up  and  not  down  to  his  son. 
The  word  does  not  mean  hell,  because  Jacob  could  never 
imagine  for  an  instant  that  his  dutiful  and  beloved  son 
had  gone  to  the  place  of  the  damned,  which  in  that  case 
must  have  become  the  receptacle  of  both  father  and  son. 
By  Hades  the  patriarch  could  not  intend  the  grave,  or 
the  receptacle  of  the  body,  for  in  a  preceding  verse  he 
said,  and,  of  course,  believed,  that  Joseph  was  devoured, 
and  therefore  it  was  impossible  for  his  body  to  be  placed 
in  the  same  grave  with  Joseph's  body.  And  supposing 
Jacob  wished  their  bodies  to  be  located  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  same  tomb,  his  wish  could  not  have  been 
realized,  inasmuch  as  he  was  in  total  ignorance  as  to  the 
whereabouts  of  Joseph's  body. 

Then,  since  the  word  in  this  passage  denotes  neither 
heaven  nor  hell,  nor  yet  the  grave,  it  must  signify  Hades, 
the  region  of  disembodied  spirits;  and  when  Jacob  said 
he  would  go  down  to  his  son  mourning,  he  meant  that 
his  soul  would  go  down  to  Hades,  whither  he  believed 
the  soul  of  Joseph  had  gone,  and  where  he  knew  it  must 
be  detained  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection;  and  this 
going  of  one  soul  after  death  to  others  in  Hades  is  called 
in  Scripture  the  being  ''gathered  to  one's  fathers,"  or  ''to 
one's  people,''  and  is  ever  distinguished  from  the  inter- 


202  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

ment  of  their  respective  bodies.  God  said  unto  Abraham 
(Genesis  xv.  15),  ''Thou  shalt  go  to  thy  fathers  in  peace, 
thou  shalt  be  buried  in  a  good  old  age.''  Two  things  in 
this  verse  demand  attention :  in  the  first  place,  Abraham 
is  promised  by  God  that  he  should  go  to  his  fathers  in 
peace ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  that  he  should  be  buried 
in  a  good  old  age.  By  telling  the  patriarch,  then,  that  he 
should  go  to  his  fathers  in  peace,  the  Almighty  could  not 
mean  that  the  body  of  Abraham  should  be  interred  with 
the  bodies  of  his  ancestors,  because  Abraham  was  buried 
in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  and  the  only  one  entombed  in 
that  place  before  the  patriarch  was  Sarah,  his  own  wife ; 
therefore,  in  promising  the  "  father  of  the  faithful"  that 
he  should  go  to  his  ancestors  in  peace,  the  Almighty  in- 
timated that  Abraham's  soul,  at  death,  should  go  into 
Hades  to  the  souls  of  his  forefathers.  "  Thou  shalt  be 
buried  in  a  good  old  age."  These  words  have  reference 
to  the  mortal  remains  of  the  patriarch,  because  the  orig- 
inal word  translated  buried  is  always  used,  in  texts  of 
this  description,  for  the  interment  of  the  body. 

The  following  passages  will  suffice  to  show  that  the 
gathering  to  one's  people,  or  one's  fathers,  is  totally  dis- 
tinct both  from  death  and  burial: — Gen.  xxv.  8,  ''Then 
Abraham  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  died  in  a  good  old  age, 
an  old  man,  and  full  of  years :  and  was  gathered  to  his 
people."  Gen.  xxxv.  29,  "And  Isaac  gave  up  the  ghost, 
and  died,  and  was  gathered  unto  his  people,  being  old 
and  full  of  days  ;  and  his  sons  Esau  and  Jacob  buried 
him."  II.  Kings  xxii.  20,  "Behold,  therefore,  I  will  gather 
thee  unto  thy  fathers,  and  thou  shalt  be  gathered  into  thy 
grave  in  peace ;  and  thine  eyes  shall  not  see  all  the  evil 
which  I  will  bring  upon  this  place." 

It  will  be  observed  that  each  of  the  foregoing  texts 
contains  three  particulars,  every  one  of  which  is  quite 
distinct  and  separate  from  the  other.  Let  us  take,  for 
example,  the  text  in  Genesis  (xxxv.  29),  and  by  analyzing 
it  we  have  : — 

1.  The  death  of  Isaac ,  which  is  announced  in  these 
words:  "And  Isaac  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  died." 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  203 

2.  His  entrance  into  Hades,  which  is  implied  in  these 
words :  "And  was  gathered  unto  his  people." 

3.  The  interment  of  his  mortal  remains,  which  is  sig- 
nified by  these  words,  and  which  are  so  evident  that  any 
explanation  seems  almost  superfluous :  "And  his  sons 
Esau  and  Jacob  buried  him." 

Another  text  we  find  written  in  Numbers  (xvi.  33), 
about  the  earth  opening  her  mouth,  ''When  they  and  all 
that  appertained  to  them  went  down  alive  into  Hades, 
and  the  earth  closed  upon  them,  and  they  perished  from 
among  the  congregation."  Now,  in  the  preceding  text 
we  learn  that  Korah  and  all  his  adherents,  who  had  de- 
spised Jehovah,  were  swallowed  by  the  pit,  which  in  this 
passage  denotes  Hades.  ''  The  earth  opened  and  they 
and  all  that  belonged  unto  them  went  down  or  descended 
alive  into  Hades."  In  Isaiah  also  (v.  14)  we  have  the 
following  :  "  Therefore  Hades  hath  enlarged  herself  and 
opened  her  mouth  without  measure,  and  their  glory  and 
their  multitude  and  their  pomp  and  he  that  rejoiceth, 
shall  descend  into  it."  Proverbs  xv.  24,  ''  The  way  of 
life  is  above  to  the  wise,  that  he  may  depart  from  Hades 
heneath.^^ 

All  these  Scriptural  texts,  and  numerous  others  which 
might  easily  be  adduced,  are  sufficiently  demonstrative 
that  the  locality  of  Hades  must  be  underneath  the  earth. 
And  for  this  reason  St.  Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Philip- 
pians  (ii.  3),  instructs  us :  ''  That  at  the  name  of  Jesus 
every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  on  the 
earth,  and  under  the  earth."  It  is,  perhaps,  hardly  requi- 
site to  say,  that  by  the  ''  things  in  heaven"  are  meant  all 
the  angels ;  by  those  on  the  earth  are  denoted  men  and, 
probably,  fallen  angels,  because  the  devils  seem  to  dwell 
at  present  in  this  world ;  while  those  under  the  earth  sig- 
nify the  separate  souls  of  men  in  Hades.  So  again,  to 
bring  down  a  man's  gray  hairs  to  Hades,  is  to  bring  the 
man  himself,  or  rather  his  soul,  into  Hades,  and  thus 
place  him  among  the  departed  dead. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  number  of  compartments  into  which  Hades  is  divided — Lazarus  in 
the  upper  and  Dives  in  the  lower  Hades — The  national  belief  of  the 
Jews  at  the  time  of  our  Lord's  first  advent — The  JeAvish  creed  in  refer- 
ence to  Hades  confirmed  by  the  Saviour — The  respective  conditions 
of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  both  in  this  world  and  the  next — No 
passing  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  Hades — The  nature  of  Abraham's 
answer — Lower  Hades  proved  to  be  a  place  of  punishment  by  numer- 
ous texts  of  Scripture — Explanation  of  Psalm  vi.  5 — The  diff"erence 
between  Hades  and  Gehenna — Hades,  or  the  Intermediate  State,  not 
the  abode  of  that  complete  happiness  and  misery  that  will  be  realized 
after  the  general  judgment — This  doctrine  proved  by  texts  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

Hades  is  divided  into  two  compartments — the  one  for 
the  just  and  the  other  for  the  unjust — so  that  while  this 
region  is  the  general  receptacle  of  the  dead,  there  is, 
nevertheless,  a  partition  which  severs  the  righteous  from 
the  wicked,  putting  each  into  his  proper  place.  This  fact 
will  account  for  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  seeing  each 
other.  Both  these  individuals  were  equally  in  Hades, 
but  how  different  was  the  abode  of  the  one  from  that  of 
the  other!  Lazarus  Avas  in  the  upper  Hades,  which  is 
the  blissful  locality  of  the  good ;  and  Dives  in  the  lower 
Hades,  the  region  of  misery.  At  the  time  our  Lord 
appeared  among  the  Jews,  their  national  belief  was  that 
the  righteous,  at  death,  entered  into  a  state  of  happiness 
called  Abraham's  bosom,  or  Paradise ;  and  that  the 
wicked  passed  into  a  condition  of  misery  by  themselves. 
They  believed  the  two  could  see  each  other,  though  there 
was  a  partition  between  them.  This  national  belief,  then, 
of  the  Jews  has  been  stamped  and  established  by  the 
authority  of  Our  Lord  Himself,  and  therefore  we  are 
bound  to  regard  it  as  conclusive.  Had  the  Hebrews 
entertained  any  erroneous  notions  on  such  an  important 
(204) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  205 

subject,  it  is  quite  out  of  the  question  to  suppose  that 
He  would  have  confirmed  those  mistaken  views.  Rather 
ought  we  to  assure  ourselves  that  such  errors  would  have 
been  exposed  and  condemned  by  our  Divine  Master.  Our 
Blessed  Lord  boldly  reminded  the  Jews  how  they  had 
made  void  the  law  of  God  by  their  tradition,  but  He 
never  hinted  that  they  were  under  wrong  impressions  in 
believing  the  righteous  dead  to  be  happy  in  Hades,  and 
the  wicked  dead  to  be  miserable  in  Hades.  On  the  con- 
trary, He  has  confirmed  the  doctrine  in  the  account  of  the 
rich  man  and  Lazarus  mentioned  in  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Luke  (xvi.  19-31).  And  this  is  indicated  with  a  minute- 
ness which  ought  to  bring  satisfaction  to  every  con- 
siderate mind.  From  this  parable  we  learn  the  respective 
conditions  of  two  men  both  before  death  and  after  it. 
While  on  earth  the  rich  man  enjoyed  every  worldly  happi- 
ness, and  immediately  after  death  his  spiritual  personality 
was  suffering  anguish  in  the  lower  Hades.  The  beggar, 
who  seems  to  have  been  deprived  of  everything  calcu- 
lated to  make  this  life  desirable,  dies,  and  is  at  once 
removed  to  the  upper  Hades,  where  he  enjoys  happiness. 
The  region,  then,  of  the  good  in  Hades  is  situated  above, 
and  the  prison  of  the  bad  below ;  hence  the  parable  in- 
forms us  that  Dives  in  Hades  raised  his  eyes  and  saw 
Abraham  above  him  at  a  great  distance.  ''And  in  Hades 
he  lift  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  seeth  Abraham 
afar  off."  The  regenerate  and  the  unregenerate  dead  are 
severed  from  each  other  by  a  mighty  chasm,  and  on  this 
account  Abraham  said  to  the  rich  man,  "Between  us  and 
you  a  great  gulf  is  fixed."  And  why  is  this  gulf  fixed'i 
In  order  that  there  ma}^  be  no  passing  from  the  lower  to 
the  upper  Hades,  and  therefore  to  assert  that  souls,  by 
undergoing  the  ordeal  of  purgatory,  are  saved,  is  utterly 
destitute  of  truth.  The  soul  which  has  once  been  con- 
signed to  the  prison  of  Dives  can  never  enter  the  region 
of  Lazarus,  Scripture  having  declared  such  a  transit 
unreasonable  and  impossible.  Abraham  said  to  the  un- 
fortunate creature,  ''  Neither  can  they  pass  to  us  that 
would  come  from  thence." 

Does  not  this  last  sentence  scatter  the  doctrine  of  pur- 


206  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

gatory  to  the  winds  ?  Dives  pleaded  most  earnestly  for 
a  change  of  locality  and  mitigation  of  his  exquisite  suffer- 
ings, but  without  any  avail  whatever.  The  request  made 
by  the  rich  man  to  Abraham  was,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
latter,  both  unreasonable  and  impossible.  The  answer 
returned  was  this  :  **Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  life- 
time receivedst  thy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus 
evil  things  :  but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tor- 
mented. And  besides  all  this,  between  us  and  you  there 
is  a  great  gulf  fixed  :  in  order  that  they  who  would  pass 
from  hence  to  you  cannot ;  neither  can  they  pass  to  us 
that  would  come  from  thence."  Abraham  reminds  Dives, 
in  the  first  place,  that  during  his  life  on  earth  he  had  re- 
ceived his  good  things  in  full  measure ;  and,  having  thus 
obtained  all  to  which  he  was  entitled,  his  asking  for  more 
was  most  unreasonable ;  but,  supposing  there  had  been  a 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  "  father  of  the  faithful  "  to  render 
any  assistance  to  the  suffering  individual  in  the  lower 
Hades,  he  found  it  impossible.  The  inmates  of  the  one 
compartment  cannot  enter  those  of  the  other.  Those  in 
upper  Hades  enjoy  happiness,  because  Abraham  said, 
^^ Lazarus  is  comforted.''^  The  lost  in  ZoM;er  Hades  sniffer 
misery,  and  therefore  the  patriarch  spoke  to  the  rich  man 
saying,  ''Thou  art  tormented.''^ 

The  partition  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  as 
stated  above,  has  been  objected  to  on  the  ground  that 
there  would  be  no  need  for  the  angels  to  separate  the 
wicked  from  the  just,  if  the  work  were  already  done.  This 
objection  is  based  upon  these  words,  found  in  St.  Mat- 
thew's Gospel  (xiii.  49,  50) :  "  So  shall  it  be  at  the  end 
of  the  world :  the  angels  shall  come  forth,  and  sever  the 
wicked  from  the  just,  and  shall  cast  them'  into  the  furnace 
of  fire;  there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
Do  not  these  words  refer  more  particularly  to  the  good 
and  the  bad  who  shall  be  found  alive  upon  the  earth  at 
the  end  of  the  world  ?  In  their  case,  the  wheat  and  the 
tares  will  be  mingled  together,  and  therefore  the  one  class 
must  be  divided  from  the  other,  in  accordance  with  the 
declaration  in  the  text,  and  this  work  is  to  devolve  upon 
the  angels.     There  is  no  necessity  for  supposing  that  the 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  201 

preceding  Scriptural  passage  has  any  reference  to  the  de- 
parted dead. 

Lower  Hades  a  place  of  Punishment.  That  the  lower 
Hades  really  is  a  place  of  anguish  for  departed  spirits  may 
be  proved  from  many  texts  of  Scripture,  a  few  of  which  I 
shall  now  produce. 

1.  **  The  pangs  of  Hades  gat  hold  upon  me." — Psalm 
cxvi.  3. 

2.  '*  Drought  and  heat  consume  the  snow  waters,  so 
doth  Hades  those  that  have  sinned." — Job  xxiv.  19. 

3.  "The  dead,  and  those  dwelling  with  them,  are  in 
anguish  beneath  the  waters." — Job  xxvi.  5.  By  the 
dead  in  this  text  we  are  to  understand  the  souls  of  men 
in  lower  Hades. 

4.  ''  Death  shall  suddenly  seize  them,  alive  shall  they 
go  down  to  Hades,  for  wickedness  is  in  their  dwellings." 
— Psalm  Iv.  15. 

5.  ''In  Hades  he  raised  his  eyes,  being  in  torments." — 
Luke  xvi.  23. 

'   6.  "  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Hades. ''^ — Psalm 
xvi.  10. 

(T.  ''  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  Hades,  and  all  the 
nations  that  forget  God." — Psalm  ix.  lY. 

8.  "  Wherefore  do  the  wicked  live  ?  They  spend  their 
days  in  wealth,  and  in  a  moment  go  down  to  Hades.^^ — 
Job  xxi.  t,  13. 

9.  "And  thou,  Capernaum,  which  art  exalted  to  heaven, 
shall  be  brought  down  to  Hades." — Matt.  xi.  23. 

10.  "  Like  sheep  they  are  laid  in  Hades  ;  death  feedeth 
upon  them." — Psalm  xlix.  14. 

11.  "  Whom  God  hath  raised  up,  having  loosed  the 
pains  of  death. '^'' — Acts  ii.  24. 

These  texts  plainly  teach  that  lower  Hades  is  a  place 
of  torment,  and  when  we  find  the  word  death  or  destruc- 
tion connected  with  Hades,  it  signifies  the  locality  of  the 
wicked  in  Hades,  or  the  lost  dead  themselves.  This  is 
evident  from  the  Book  of  Revelation  (xx.  13,  14),  where 
we  find  these  w^ords  :  "And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead 
which  were  in  it:  and  death  and  Hades  (that  is,  the  lost 
souls  in  Hades)  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.     This  is 


208  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

the  second  death."  Here  we  behold  a  manifest  distinc- 
tion between  Hades  and  Gehenna,  for  the  termination  of 
anguish  in  the  former  is  the  commencement  of  torments 
in  the  latter. 

In  Proverbs  (xxvii.  20)  we  are  told  that  "  Hades  and 
destruction  are  never  satisfied.'^  In  a  former  part  of  this 
work  I  promised  to  explain  the  fifth  verse  of  the  sixth 
Psalm,  and  this  is  the  proper  place  to  make  our  promise 
good. 

These  are  the  words :  "■  For  in  death  there  is  no 
remembrance  of  Thee ;  in  the  grave  who  shall  give  Thee 
thanks  ?" 

The  fifth  verse,  correctly  rendered,  will  read  after  this 
manner :  "•  Because  Thy  praise  does  not  exist  in  death, 
who  in  Hades  shall  render  thanks  to  Thee  ?" 

The  Psalmist's  meaning  in  the  text  is,  that  the  dead  or 
lost  souls  in  Hades  can  never  alter  their  condition.  The 
word  rendered  *'not"  signifies,  in  the  original,  non-exist- 
ence, and  is  applied  to  the  noun  "■  praise,"  and  thereby 
intimates  that  the  true  praise  of  God,  called  in  the  Psalm, 
''  thy  praise,"  does  not  exist  in  the  lower  Hades  ;  and  if 
praise  is  utterly  absent  from  the  condemned  spirits,  we 
need  not  wonder  at  the  Psalmist  asking  ''  who  in  Hades 
shall  render  thanks  unto  God  ?"  The  question  implies  a 
strong  negation.  To  praise,  or  to  celebrate  God,  or  to 
give  Him  thanks,  must  always  presuppose  benefits,  mer- 
cies, or  kindness  previously  received  by  such  as  offer 
thanksgiving,  and,  therefore,  since  those  in  the  prison  of 
Hades  cannot  either  praise  God  or  give  thanks  to  Him, 
we  justly  conclude  that  the  Divine  favor  is  altogether 
withheld  from  them.  Their  doom  is  irrevocably  fixed. 
And  to  prove  the  truth  of  our  statements,  we  need  only 
remind  the  reader  that  while  these  lost  souls  are  repre- 
sented as  being  unable  to  praise  the  Almighty  or  to  give 
Him  thanks,  it  is  never  said  they  cannot  pray  to  Him. 
And  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Dives  in  torments 
neither  praised  nor  gave  thanks  to  his  Creator,  but 
prayed  to  have  his  sufferings  alleviated.  Being  excluded 
from  God  and  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  Jehovah's  face 
and  mercy,  the  rich  man  had  nothing  either  to  praise 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  209 

God  for  or  to  thank  Him  for.  If  we  turn  to  Isaiah  (xxxviii. 
18)  we  see  the  truth  of  what  we  now  say:  **For  Hades 
cannot  give  thanks  unto  Thee,  death  cannot  celebrate 
Thee :  they  that  go  down  into  the  pit  cannot  hope  for  Thy 
truth.''  How  different  is  all  this  from  saying,  ''  in  death 
there  is  no  remembrance"  of  God ;  as  if  the  soul  entered 
into  a  deep  and  profound  sleep,  or  as  if  death  were  annihi- 
lation, the  meaning  which  many  have  attached  to  such 
passages.  David  indeed  prayed  in  the  fourth  verse  of  the 
same  Psalm  to  be  saved  and  delivered  before  death,  be- 
cause he  knew  there  would  be  no  deliverance  afterward, 
and,  therefore,  he  says,  *'  Return,  0  Lord,  deliver  my  soul. 
Oh  save  me  for  Thy  mercies'  sake,  because  Thy  praise 
doth  not  exist  in  death  :  who  in  Hades  shall  render  thanks 
unto  Thee  ?"  The  lost  dead  may  pray  to  God,  but  they 
neither  praise  Him  nor  give  Him  thanks,  as  we  have  be- 
fore observed.  Hades  then  is  a  place  of  happiness  and 
misery  not  for  the  bodies,  but  for  the  souls  of  men,  it 
being  that  region  in  which  the  souls  or  spirits  of  men 
dwell  till  the  resurrection,  and  therefore  Hades  is  limited 
in  duration  and  not  perpetual,  while  Gehenna  or  hell 
will  be  everlasting. 

Again,  the  anguish  experienced  in  Hades  belongs  ex- 
clusively to  the  disembodied  soul ;  while  the  torments  of 
hell  will  be  both  internal  and  external,  and  therefore  the 
body  itself  must  undergo  punishment.  The  description 
of  **  hell"  in  the  word  of  God  seems  to  justify  this  con- 
clusion ;  for  it  is  thus  written  in  the  Book  of  Revelation 
(xx.  10)  :  ''And  the  devil  that  deceived  them  was  cast 
(eig  rijv  Xifiv7]v  too  r.upbq  xal  Oeiou)  into  the  lake  of  fire  and 
brimstone,  where  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are,  and 
shall  be  tormented  day  and  night  for  ever  and  ever." 
And  at  the  retribution  day,  Christ  will  say  to  them  on 
His  left  hand,  ''  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlast- 
ing fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  In  Hades, 
as  already  intimated,  the  spirit  or  soul  only  suffers,  in  hell 
both  body  and  soul  will  be  tortured.  The  punishment  of 
Hades  is  inflicted  before  the  judgment-day  ;  the  torments 
of  hell  after  the  judgment-day.  It  was  Hades  into  which 
our  Lord  descended  while  His  body  lay  in  the  grave. 

14 


210  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

Hence  every  Sunday  we  are  called  upon  to  say,  we  be- 
lieve that  Christ  descended  into  hell,  that  is,  into  Rades  ; 
and  His  return  from  this  locality  to  take  His  body,  we 
express  by  saying  that  ''  He  rose  again  from  the  dead." 
That  the  soul  of  Christ  was  in  Hades  can  be  proved  from 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (ii.  31,  32),  "  David  seeing  this 
before  spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that  His  soul 
was  not  left  in  Hades,  neither  did  His  flesh  see  corrup- 
tion. This  Jesus  hath  God  raised  up,  whereof  we  all  are 
witnesses."  It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  say  that  the 
parable^of  Dives  and  Lazarus  teaches  us  that  the  former 
in  Hades  raised  his  eyes  being  in  torments.  These  words, 
*' being  in  torments,"  are  inserted  to  show  that  the  rich 
man  was  in  the  lost  part  of  Hades,  or  that  region  which 
is  expressed  in  other  places  of  Scripture  by  **  Death  and 
Hades — Hades  and  destruction.'^^  That  Hades  is  neither 
hell  nor  a  prison  of  perpetual  punishment  to  the  lost  souls 
is  evident  from  Revelation  (xx.  13),  where  it  is  expressly 
written  that  ''  Death  and  Hades  delivered  up  the  dead 
which  were  in  them." 

To  sum  up  then  our  previous  remarks  and  explanations 
respecting  this  **  Intermediate  State"  of  the  departed,  and 
to  make  it  assume  a  more  practical  character,  we  may  en- 
deavor to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader  that  the 
parable  iii  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  St.  Luke^s  Gospel  and 
other  Scriptures  relating  to  the  same  important  subject, 
are  designed  to  teach  us  that  the  spirits  or  souls  of  all 
men,  whether  good  or  bad,  go  at  death  into  the  region  of 
Hades,  and  that  they  enter  in  an  instant  upon  a  state  of 
happiness  or  misery  depending  upon  the  condition  in 
which  they  die.  Hades  is  divided  into  two  parts,  because 
the  Bible  recognizes  only  two  characters  of  men,  the  good 
and  the  bad,  sometimes  designated  the  sheep  and  the 
goats.  And  for  this  very  reason  only  two  characters  are 
made  use  of  in  the  parable,  the  man  in  torments  repre- 
senting all  those  who  die  in  their  sins,  and  Lazarus  all 
such  as  obtain  the  full  forgiveness  of  their  sins  before 
they  leave  this  world.  That  this  parable  sets  forth  the 
"  Intermediate  State,"  is  proved  not  only  from  the  use 
of  the  word  Hades,  which  invariably  denotes  the  place  of 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  211 

separate  souls,  hut  also  hy  the  rich  man's  suffering  tor- 
ments, while  his  five  brothers  were  living  in  this  world,  or 
why  did  he  request  Abraham  to  send  one  of  the  dead  to 
his  father's  house  to  testify  to  his  brethren,  lest  they  also 
should  go  into  that  place  of  anguish  ?  And  be  it  further 
observed  that  this  transpired  lohile  the  rich  man's  body 
was  entombed  in  the  silent  grave,  and  while  his  brothers 
had  Moses  and  the  prophets  to  guide  them  ;  but  how 
could  all  this  be  true,  if  the  rich  man  was  already  in  hell, 
the  lake  of  fire  into  which  neither  men  nor  fallen  angels 
will  be  cast  till  after  the  destrtiction  of  the  world  'and  the 
general  judgment?  This  ''Intermediate  State"  is  not 
that  abode  of  complete  happiness  and  absolute  misery 
which  each  individual  will  enjoy  or  suffer  at  the  resurrec- 
tion, when  body  and  soul  are  to  be  reunited ;  for  we  are 
acquainted  by  St.  Paul  that  *'  To  die  was  gain,'^  and 
that  it  was  better  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ  than  to 
abide  in  the  flesh  ;  yet  he  informs  us  in  II.  Timothy  (iv.  8) 
that  the  ''crown  of  righteousness"  would  not  be  given 
him  till  that  day,  meaning  the  day  of  judgment ;  and  then 
not  to  him  only  but  unto  all  them  also  who  love  the  ap- 
pearing of  their  Lord.  And  in  Revelation  (xi.  18),  we 
learn  that  the  saints  are  not  to  receive  their  reward  till 
the  time  ivhen  the  dead  shall  be  judged.  Now,  if  we  wish 
for  a  passage  in  which  hell,  properly  so  named,  is  to  be 
found,  I  refer  the  reader  to  St.  Mark's  Gospel  (ix.  4t,  48), 
where  it  is  thus  written:  "And  if  thy  eye  offend  thee 
pluck  it  out;  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  with  one  eye  than  having  two  eyes  to  be  cast 
into  hell  fire ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not  and  the  fire  is 
not  quenched."  The  original  word  for  hell  in  this  passage 
is  Gehenna,  and  we  see  it  qualified  as  the  fire  which  never 
shall  be  quenched ;  while  the  Scriptural  representations 
of  Hades  are  presented  to  us  in  a  totally  different  char- 
acter. 


CHAPTER  XXYIIL 

The  first  and  second  death — The  first  and  second  resurrection — The 
millennium — Christ  will  not  reign  personally  during  the  millennium — 
The  departed  spirits  communicate  with  one  another — The  duty  to  be 
performed  by  the  angels  on  the  day  of  judgment — There  will  be  de- 
grees of  exaltation  and  degradation  in  the  next  world — The  wicked 
dead  conscious  of  what  has  transpired,  but  not  conscious  of  what  is 
transpiring  in  this  world — The  righteous  dead  are  only  conscious  of 
those  facts  which  God  vouchsafes  to  communicate. 

I  SHALL  now  endeavor  to  explain  a  few  more  of  those 
difficulties  in  the  Bible  which  are  closely  connected  with 
the  subject  which  we  have  been  discussing. 

We  are  most  clearly  and  distinctly  taught  by  the  word 
of  God  that  there  is  to  be  an  end  to  the  present  world, 
that  there  will  be  a  universal  resurrection,  so  far  as  the 
human  race  is  concerned,  that  every  man  is  to  stand  before 
the  bar  of  God  for  judgment  by  virtue  of  which  each  indi- 
viduaPs  eternal  destiny  will  be  unalterably  fixed,  and  that 
Christ  Himself  will  be  the  judge  to  reward  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds:  and  yet  we  are  equally  taught 
that  there  will  be  a  first  death  and  a  second  death,  as  well 
as  a  first  resurrection  ;  and,  of  course,  if  there  be  a  first 
resurrection,  there  will  also  be  a  second.  And  then  we 
have  the  millennium  spoken  of,  namely,  that  Christ  is  to 
reign  upon  the  earth  a  thousand  years  with  His  people. 
Then  we  have  the  diff'erent  opinions  as  to  whether  Christ 
shall  reign  in  person  or  in  spirit ;  all  these  seem  to  be 
great  difficulties,  as  they  apparently  involve  contradic- 
tions. Let  us  take  each  difficulty  in  its  proper  order  and 
try  to  solve  it,  so  as  to  make  this  portion  of  the  Scripture 
read  and  understood.  The  Bible  is  decisive  in  teaching 
the  two  personal  advents  of  Christ,  the  first  when  He  ap- 
peared among  men  as  their  Saviour  by  offering  Himself  a 
sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world ;  and  for  this  reason  St. 
(212) 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  213 

John's  Gospel  informs  us  (iii.  It)  that  *'  God  sent  not  His 
Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the 
world  through  Him  might  be  saved.^^  This  is  our  Lord's 
first  advent.  At  the  end  of  the  world  the  same  Lord 
Jesus  shall  come  again  in  person  to  judge  all  mankind  for 
whom  His  own  precious  blood  was  shed.  And,  there- 
fore, in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (i.  11)  we  are  expressly 
taught  that  "this  same  Jesus,  which  was  taken  from  us 
into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  His  disciples 
or  apostles  saw  Him  go  into  heaven."  They  saw  Him 
ascend  visibly  and  in  person,  and  we  have  the  Divine 
record  telling  us  that  He  shall  return  in  the  same  manner. 
These  two  advents,  then,  of  our  Lord,  the  one  for  saving 
the  world,  the  other  for  judging  the  world,  are  clear  and 
decisive.  And  now  what  shall  we  say  as  to  Christ  reign- 
ing on  the  earth  a  thousand  years  ?  If  our  Lord  appear 
to  reign  upon  the  earth  in  person.  He  will  be  under  the 
necessity  of  coming  twice  more,  and  in  that  case  there  will 
be  three  advents  instead  of  two ;  and,  therefore,  if  both 
these  are  taught  in  the  Bible,  Scripture  contradicts  Scrip- 
ture, and  this  we  cannot  admit. 

Instead  of  the  text  in  Revelation  being  rendered  "  Christ 
shall  reign  uponthe  earth,"  it  ought  to  have  been  through 
the  earth,  signifying  that,  instead  of  the  whole  world  being 
under  the  dominion  of  the  devil  and  his  angels,  it  shall  be 
reigned  over  by  Christ  for  a  period  of  a  thousand  years; 
and  it  is  during  the  millennial  period  that  the  earth  shall 
be  filled  with  a  knowledge  of  God  as  the  waters  cover  the 
deep.  It  may,  however,  be  asked,  what  will  the  devils  be 
doing  during  the  time  of  Christ's  absolute  sway  over  the 
earth  ?  To  this  we  answer  that  the  fallen  angels  are  to 
be  banished  into  the  lower  Hades,  in  which  place  they 
will  be  detained  for  a  thousand  years,  and  not  permitted 
to  molest  the  earth  as  they  do  now.  And  at  the  expira- 
tion of  their  confinement  in  the  prison  of  Hades  they  will 
again  have  liberty  for  a  short  time  and  be  allowed  to  de- 
ceive the  nations  of  the  world.  In  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion (xx.  1,  2)  we  thus  read  :  ''  And  I  saw  an  angel  come 
down  from  heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  abyss  (abyss  is 
here  used  for  Hades,  as  we  have  shown  in  a  former  part 


214  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

of  this  work),  and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand  ;  and  he  laid 
hold  on  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil, 
and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand  years,  and  cast  him 
into  the  abyss,  and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon  him, 
that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more  till  the  thou- 
sand years  should  be  fulfilled,  and  after  that  he  must  be 
loosed  a  little  season.'^  Here  we  see  the  angel  coming 
and  having  the  key  of  Hades,  for  the  purpose  of  banish- 
ing the  whole  legion  of  devils  into  the  prison  in  lower 
Hades,  to  be  confined  for  the  thousand  years. 

And,  now,  what  are  we  to  say  about  the  first  and 
second  death  ?  We  have  in  a  former  chapter  considered 
the  nature  of  death,  and  shown  that  it  signifies  neither 
more  nor  less  than  separation;  and  throughout  Scripture 
the  word  never  loses  this  meaning.  Hence,  the  first 
death  is  the  confinement  of  a  lost  soul  in  lower  Hades, 
which  implies  exclusion  or  separation  from  God.  To  be 
banished,  then,  from  God  and  confined  in  the  prison  of 
lower  Hades  is  the  first  death.  To  be  taken  from  this 
place  of  Hades  and  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  is  the  second 
death.  We  have  this  Avritten  in  Rev  (xx.  13,  14)  ;  ''And 
the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it ;  and  death 
and  Hades  delivered  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them ; 
and  they  were  judged  every  man  according  to  their  works  " 

And  death  and  Hades,  that  is,  those  souls  in  the  region 
of  the  lost,  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire ;  this  is  the 
second  death.  Does  not  this  prove  the  distinction  between 
Hades  and  Hell  ?  That  the  devils  are  to  be  banished  into 
the  lower  Hades,  and  that  they  knoio  it,  too,  is  certain 
from  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  (viii.  31):  "And  they  (the 
devils)  besought  Him  (Christ)  that  He  would  not  com- 
mand them  to  go  out  into  the  abyss."  And  while  these 
devils  and  the  wicked  souls  of  men  shall  be  detained  in 
the  prison  of  Hades,  all  the  righteous  dead,  that  shall 
have  left  this  world  before  the  commencement  of  the  mil- 
lennium, will  be  taken  out  of  the  happy  part  of  Hades  to 
reign  with  Christ  over  the  earth,  and  this  is  called  the 
first  resurrection,  and  is  confined  exclusively  to  the  good. 
''And  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  wit- 
ness of  Jesus  and  for  the^rs^  resurrection :  on  such  the 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES,  215 

second  death  hath  no  power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of 
God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  Him  a  thousand 
years. ^^  "  And  when  the  thousand  years  are  expired, 
Satan  shall  be  loosed  out  of  his  prison  and  shall  go  out 
to  deceive  the  nations.'^  (Rev.  xx.  4,  5,  6,  Y,  8.)  ''  This 
first  resurrection  is  specially  mentioned  by  our  Lord  (Luke 
XX.  34-36),  though  St.  Luke  is  the  only  Evangelist  who 
has  given  it  in  a  precise  form.''  "  The  children  of  this 
world,  saith  He,  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage  ;  but 
they  which  shall  be  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that 
world  and  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  neither  marry 
nor  are  given  in  marriage,  for  they  are  the  sons  of  the 
resurrection." 

We  know  that  there  will  be  the  general  resurrection  at 
the  end  of  the  world,  when  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good 
must  be  raised  from  the  dead  ;  and  therefore  our  Blessed 
Lord,  in  stating  that  there  will  be  neither  marrying  nor 
giving  in  marriage  with  those  who  "shall  be  accounted 
worthy  to  obtain  that  world  and  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead,"  was  unquestionably  speaking  of  a  special  res- 
urrection, and  of  one  totally  distinct  from  that  universal 
resurrection  which  is  to  take  place  at  the  consummation 
of  all  things.  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians 
(iii.  11),  refers  to  this  resurrection  of  the  righteous  in 
these  words  :  **  If  by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead."  The  first  resurrection  will 
comprise  the  righteous  dead,  and  is  fixed  to  take  place  at 
the  beginning  of  the  millennium;  the  second  resurrection, 
which  will  comprise  the  wicked  dead,  has  been  appointed 
to  be  accomplished  after  the  millennium  and  at  the  end  of 
the  world. 

Since,  then,  the  departed  spirits  continue  their  con- 
scious existence  after  death,  the  question  is,  Can  they 
communicate  with  each  other,  or,  in  other  words,  is  there 
mutual  recognition  ?  We  say  they  do  recognize  each 
other,  for  unless  they  are  capable  of  this,  the  condition 
even  of  the  righteous  dead  is  infinitely  worse  than  it 
could  possibly  have  been  during  their  sojourn  in  this 
world.  Man  by  nature  is  a  social  being,  and  therefore  to 
strip  him  of  society  is  tantamount  to  depriving  him  of  all 


216  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

happiness.  Even  in  mundane  affairs,  when  there  is  no 
recrimination,  sorrows,  by  being  communicated,  are 
halved,  and  joys  doubled,  and  how  much  more  must  this 
be  the  case  in  those  regions  where  everything  will  be  felt 
in  its  utmost  reality.  Again,  since  we  can  know  each 
other  in  the  body,  it  is  the  utmost  folly  to  suppose  we 
shall  not  recognize  each  other  out  of  the  body.  The  Bible, 
however,  which  is  the  Revelation  of  Him  to  whom  all 
worlds  are  in  subjection,  settles  this  matter  beyond  all 
doubt  and  contradiction.  The  account  given  by  our 
Blessed  Lord  Himself  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  the  two  rep- 
resentative characters  of  the  human  race,  proves  incon- 
testably  the  truth  of  my  assertion,  and  therefore  any 
other  interpretation  serves  only  to  evade  the  real  mean- 
ing. Some  expositors  tell  us  that  the  account  is  only  a 
parable.  Granted ;  but  let  me  remind  such  that  it  is  for 
that  very  reason  all  the  more  important,  as  every  parable 
of  this  kind  must  be  based  upon  truth.  There  must  be 
a  real  state  of  happiness  and  misery  implied  in  the 
words  of  the  parable,  or  the  whole  account  would  be  a 
false  representation.  Again,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  the  disembodied  spirits  recognize  each  other  from 
the  words  of  the  apostle,  who  says  (I.  Cor.  xiii.  12) : 
"  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass,  darkly  ;  but  then  face 
to  face  :  now  I  know  in  part ;  but  then  shall  I  know  even 
as  also  I  am  known."  We  may  infer  from  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew  (xiii.  24-30),  where  we  have  the  parable  of 
the  tares,  that  there  will  be  at  the  final  day  of  judgment, 
and  probably  during  the  ''  Intermediate  State,'' some  kind 
of  classification  of  sinners.  The  words  of  the  parable 
are :  *'  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  hkened  unto  a  man 
which  sowed  good  seed  in  his  field :  but  while  men  slept, 
his  enemy  came  and  sowed  tares  among  the  wheat,  and 
went  his  way.  But  when  the  blade  was  sprung  up,  and 
brought  forth  fruit,  then  appeared  the  tares  also.  So  the 
servants  of  the  householder  came  and  said  unto  him,  Sir, 
didst  not  thou  sow  good  seed  in  thy  field  ?  From  whence, 
then,  hath  it  tares  ?  He  said  unto  them.  An  enemy  hath 
done  this.  The  servants  said  unto  him.  Wilt  thou  then 
that  we  go  and  gather  them  up  ?  But  he  said.  Nay ;  lest 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  21t 

while  ye  gather  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the  wheat  with 
them.  Let  both  grow  together  until  the  harvest :  and  in 
the  time  of  harvest  I  will  say  to  the  reapers,  Gather  ye 
together  first  the  tares,  and  bind  them  in  bundles  to  burn 
them  :  but  gather  the  wheat  into  my  barn."  The  reader 
will  hardly  fail  to  notice  in  that  part  of  the  parable  rela- 
ting to  the  day  of  judgment,  that  a  duty  of  a  twofold  char- 
acter will,  at  that  critical  time,  devolve  upon  the  angels 
whom  our  Blessed  Redeemer  has  here  designated  by  the 
significant  term  reapers.  Their  business  will  be,  in  the 
first  place,  to  gather  the  tares,  that  is,  to  separate  the  had 
from  the  good,m  order  that  no  sinner  may  be  among  the 
righteous.  What  a  marvelous  task  will  this  be  !  After 
the  angels  have  drawn  the  line  of  distinction  between  the 
tares  and  the  wheat,  or  between  the  regenerate  and  unre- 
generate,  they  have  still  another  operation  to  perform, 
and  it  must*- be  one  of  much  greater  difficulty.  To  sep- 
arate things  bearing  a  strong  resemblance  to  each  other 
is  not  an  easy  matter,  but  to  make  a  practical  distinction 
between  things  which  are  of  the  same  nature  and  appear 
to  be  of  like  character  requires  deep  penetration,  much 
critical  acumen,  and  the  most  profound  discrimination, 
because  the  real  difference  is  not  an  external  manifesta- 
tion, but  an  internal  development.  Now,  we  should  be 
impugning  the  justice  of  God  if  we  supposed  that  this 
tying  up  in  bundles  was  effected  in  an  indiscriminate 
manner,  whereby  sinners  of  different  degrees  were  thrown 
together ;  but  since  we  know  and  are  assured  upon  the 
authority  of  Jehovah  Himself  that  every  man  shall  be 
rewarded  in  strict  accordance  with  his  deeds,  we  have 
only  one  conclusion  to  which  we  can  arrive  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  it  is  this :  that  by  tying  up  the  tares  in  bundles 
is  meant  the  arranging  of  sinners  according  to  the  depth 
and  magnitude  of  their  crimes ;  so  that  the  most  wicked 
will  occupy  a  region  by  themselves.  This  view,  if  I  do 
not  mistake,  is  confirmed  by  the  short  time  our  Divine 
Master  was  among  the  antediluvians  in  the  lower  Hades. 
If  this  tijing  up  in  bundles  does  not  presuppose  fellow- 
ship in  crime,  of  which  the  work  to  be  performed  by  the 
angels  is  but  the  natural  consequence  and  visible  mani- 


218  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

festation,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  what  the  words  realty 
mean  or  imply.  There  seems  to  be  some  analogy  be- 
tween tying  up  the  tares  in  bundles  and  placing  the 
righteous  in  different  mansions  in  heaven.  In  the  Gospel 
of  St.  John  (xiv.  1,  2)  our  Lord  said  to  His  disciples  : 
^'  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled :  ye  believe  in  God,  be- 
lieve also  in  me.  In  my  Father's  house  there  are  many 
mansions :  if  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.  I 
go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you."  What  are  we  to  under- 
stand by  this  heavenly  house  which  our  adorable  Ue- 
deemer  tells  us  has  many  mansions  in  it?  Do  these  ever- 
lasting abodes  not  imply  certain  shades  of  happiness  ? 

The  sinner  who  obtains  forgiveness  only  at  the  last 
moment  will  hardly  occupy  so  exalted  a  place  either  in 
Hades  or  in  Heaven  as  the  saint  who  has  devoted  the 
whole  of  his  life  to  the  service  of  his  Creator ;  and  if  this 
were  not  as  we  have  stated,  how  could  each  individual 
receive  a  just  recompense  of  reward  ?  The  righteous  dead 
are,  we  may  feel  assured,  in  the  enjoyment  of  happiness, 
for  Abraham  said,  when  speaking  of  Lazarus,  he  is  com- 
forted, and  that  which  is  declared  of  him  must  apply 
with  equal  force  to  all  the  regenerate  dead,  inasmuch  as 
Lazarus  is  supposed  to  be  a  representative  character. 
They  will  doubtless  hold  communion  with  each  other, 
and  realize  the  glorious  presence  of  their  Creator  and  Re- 
deemer. The  righteous  dead  cannot  but  rejoice  at  the 
thought  of  having,  by  God's  help,  triumphed  over  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  They  experience  conso- 
lation in  knowing  they  are  forever  secure  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Almighty's  wing  ;  and  they  must  look 
forward  Avith  the  most  supreme  delight  and  ecstatic  joy 
to  that  day  in  the  distant  future  when  their  Divine  Bene- 
factor shall  say  to  them,  in  the  presence  not  only  of  all 
mankind  but  also  of  good  angels  and  had  angels :  '*  Come, 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.''^  (Matt.  xxv. 
34.) 

The  next  question  on  this  interesting  subject  is.  Do 
the  departed  dead  know  what  is  actually  going  on  in 
this  present  world  ?    Have  they  any  sympathetic  feelings 


SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  219 

toward  those  whom  they  have  left  behind  ?  In  answer 
to  these  inquiries,  we  have  to  say  that  it  is  contrary 
to  the  capacity  of  human  nature  to  be  in  one  place 
and  yet  know  of  itself,  that  is,  without  the  aid  of 
external  communication,  what  is  transpiring  in  an- 
other. It  is  ^manifest  from  the  constitution  of  man, 
that  when  he  leaves  this  world  he  has  a  clear  recollection 
of  the  state  of  friends  and  relatives  who  remain  on  the 
earth  to  lament  his  departure.  We  make  this  assertion 
on  the  authority  of  what  we  are  taught  in  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Luke  (xvi.  25),  where  we  find  Abraham  said  to  the 
rich  man:  ''Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  lifetime  re- 
ceivedst  thy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil 
things:  but  now  he  is  comforted  and  thpu  art  tormented." 
The  telling  of  the  rich  man  to  remember  what  had  trans- 
pired during  the  period  of  his  earthly  existence,  is  designed 
to  show  that  we  carry  with  us  a  full  recollection  of  the 
cicumstances  and  conditions  of  our  past  life.  If  this 
were  not  so,  there  would  be  no  use  in  saying  to  Dives, 
remember.  That  he  ,did  really  remember  what  he  had 
left  behind  him  seems  to  be  put  beyond  the  possibility  of 
a  doubt,  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  rich  man  (verses 
27,  28)  said  to  the  ''father  of  the  faithful,'^  "I  pray 
thee  therefore,  father,  that  thou  wouldest  send  him  (Laz- 
arus) to  my  father's  house  :  for  I  have  five  brethren  ; 
that  he  may  testify  unto  them,  lest  they  also  come  into 
this  place  of  torment."  This  rich  man  had  as  clear  a 
conception  of  what  he  had  left  behind  him  as  when  he 
was  in  this  world.  He  knew  that  he  had  left  behind  him 
five  hi^otherSy  and  he  was  aware  that  every  one  of  them 
at  the  time  of  his  death  was  living  a  life  of  sin,  and  he 
appears  to  have  been  in  the  greatest  apprehension  lest 
they  should  enter  into  that  region  of  torture  in  which  he 
found  himself.  All  this  implies  that  the  dead  have  a  vivid 
recollection  of  the  events  which  occurred  during  the  term 
of  their  natural  life.  And  this  fact  is  exactly  what  might 
be  expected,  considering  that  death  is  only ^a  temporary 
separation  between  body  and  soul.  No  intellectual  faculty 
of  the  soul  is  destroyed  or  annihilated  by  the  "  king  of 
terrors."    We  may,  on  the  contrary,  presume  that,  being 


220  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

liberated  from  the  trammels  of  a  perishing  body,  the 
action  of  the  soul  is  both  quickened  and  intensified.  We 
may  then,  I  think,  fairly  infer  that  the  wicked  dead  have 
a  distinct  recollection  of  all  family  matters  up  to  the  time 
of  their  death,  and  that  they  possess  no  knowledge 
beyond  that,  but  they  appear  to  be  in  a  sort  of  gloomy 
anticipation  of  what  may  come  to  pass,  as  a  natural  con- 
sequence of  what  they  witnessed  during  their  earthly 
pilgrimage. 

In  reference  to  the  righteous  dead,  we  may  observe, 
that  they  do  not  know  of  themselves  what  takes  place 
upon  the  earth  after  they  have  departed  this  life ;  but 
God  vouchsafes  to  communicate  to  them  such  tidings  as 
are  calculated  to  interest  them  and  increase  their  joy.  We 
feel  justified  in  drawing  this  conclusion  from  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Luke  (xv.  3-10),  where  we  have  the  parables  of 
the  lost  sheep  and  the  ten  pieces  of  silver.  In  this  por- 
tion of  God's  word  we  thus  read  :  *'  And  he  spake  this 
parable  unto  them,  saying.  What  man  of  you,  having  a 
hundred  sheep,  if  he  lose  one  of  them,  doth  not  leave  the 
ninety  and  nine  in  the  wilderness,  and  go  after  that 
which  is  lost  until  he  find  it  ?  And  when  he  hath  found 
it,  he  layeth  it  on  his  shoulders,  rejoicing.  And  when  he 
Cometh  home,  he  calleth  together  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, saying  unto  them,  Kejoice  with  me ;  for  I  have 
found  my  sheep  which  was  lost.  I  say  unto  you,  that 
likewise  joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that 
repenteth  more  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons 
which  need  no  repentance.  Either  what  woman,  having 
ten  pieces  of  silver,  if  she  lose  one  piece,  doth  not  light  a 
candle  and  sweep  the  house,  and  seek  diligently  till  she  find 
it  ?  And  when  she  hath  found  it,  she  calleth  her  friends 
and  her  neighbors  together,  saying,  Rejoice  with  me ; 
for  I  have  found  the  piece  which  I  had  lost.  Likewise,  I 
say  unto  you,  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels 
of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth."  It  is  here  to  be 
observed  that  the  friends  and  neighbors  of  the  man  who 
bad  lost  his  sheep,  and  the  friends  and  neighbors  of  the 
woman  that  lost  her  piece  of  silver,  knew  nothing  of  the 
finding  of  either  the  one  or  the  other  till  they  were  told. 


SCRIPTURAL   DOCTRINE  OF  HADES.  221 

So  I  apprehend  the  fact  to  be  in  the  next  world.  The 
righteous  inhabitants  are  necessarily  in  ignorance  of  the 
repentance  and  conversion  of  a  sinner,  but  it  pleases  God 
to  communicate  the  fact  to  them,  which  is  the  foundation 
for  a  sudden  and  rapturous  burst  of  joy,  whereby  the 
mansions  of  that  happy  abode  sound  and  resound  with 
praises  and  thanksgiving  to  God  for  the  manifestation  of 
His  mercy  toward  a  guilty  sinner.  It  will,  perhaps,  be 
objected  here  that  this  joy  is  said  to  take  place  not  in 
reference  to  the  souls  of  men,  but  with  respect  to  angels. 
I  answer  the  objection  by  affirming  that  in  thQ  ivorld  to 
come  men  are  to  be  as  angels,  and  therefore  that  which 
will  be  a  source  of  felicity  to  the  one  will  doubtless  be  so 
to  the  other.  This  would  seem  to  follow  conclusively 
from  the  words  of  our  Saviour  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel 
(xxii.  30),  where  He  says,  in  answer  to  the  Sadducees  : 
''  For  in  the  resurrection  they  (mankind)  neither  marry 
nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God  in 
heaven."  The  most  natural  meaning  of  the  word  resur- 
rection in  the  above  passage,  or  at  least  the  leading  idea, 
appears  to  be  a  state  of  future  existence  beyond  the 
grave,  in  which  good  men  are  like  the  angels  of  God. 
Rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  on  the 
conversion  of  a  repenting  sinner  presupposes  a  knowledge 
of  the  fact  on  account  of  which  that  ecstatic  joy  takes 
place. 

The  parable  in  St.  Luke\s  Gospel  (xvi.)  will  authorize 
us  to  conclude  that  the  good  are  not  in  any  way  affected 
by  the  misfortunes  of  the  bad  in  the  next  world,  because 
all  the  time  during  which  the  rich  man  was  asking  for 
pity  and  complaining  of  his  anguish,  Lazarus  is  not  moved 
in  the  least,  nor  does  he  take  the  slightest  notice  of  that 
man  at  whose  gate  he  had  so  often  lain  full  of  sores. 
The  punishment  of  the  wicked  in  Hades  must  be  terrible 
even  to  contemplate,  otherwise  the  anticipation  of  it 
could  not  have  so  distressed  the  innocent  soul  of  Jesus, 
as  we  know  it  did,  both  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane, 
and  when  he  was  expiring  on  the  cross.  The  flame 
spoken  of  concerning  the  rich  man  must  have  been  the 
awful   condemning  power  of  conscience  and   the  utter 


222  SCRIPTURAL  DOCTRINE  OF  HADES. 

despair  with  which  he  was  filled.  The  lost  dead,  to 
whom  the  Gospel  was  preached  in  their  lifetime,  must 
feel  the  utmost  anguish  for  having  rejected  the  offers  of 
Divine  grace,  and  are  overwhelmed  at  the  fearful  expecta- 
tion of  judgment,  when  they  are  to  feel  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb,  and  be  forever  banished  from  the  Lord. 

The  three  states  of  the  righteous  may  be  thus  distin- 
guished :  In  this  world  Faith  is  the  leading  feature  ;  in 
Hades,  Hope ;  in  Heaven,  Love:  while  the  condition  of 
the  wicked  is  characterized  by  Unbelief  on  Earth  ;  De- 
spair in  Hades  ;  and  Hatred  in  Hell. 

Those  to  whose  lot  it  shall  be  to  dwell  for  centuries 
within  the  prison  of  Hades  will  have  plenty  of  time  to 
reflect  upon  the  many  evils  which  they  have  committed 
while  passing  through  this  present  world,  and  as  bad 
examples  have  their  pernicious  influences,  it.  may  be  that 
an  aged  sinner  in  descending  into  that  gloomy  region  will 
be  followed  by  others  in  whose  lost  condition  he  may  have 
acted  a  considerable  part,  either  by  counsel  or  evil  ex- 
ample. These  latter  are  sure  to  charge  the  former  with 
his  having  been  instrumental  in  their  ruin.  To  this  let 
me  add  that  the  benign  presence  and  favor  of  God  are  not 
only  withheld  from  the  lost  in  Hades,  but  they  will  feel  the 
terrible  effects  of  His  curse. 

In  Hades,  then,  at  this  moment,  are  all  the  souls  that 
have  ever  lived  in  this  world.  Hades  one  day  will  be 
our  abode,  until  that  joyous  and  dreadful  hour,  when  the 
blast  of  the  Archangel's  trumpet  shall  sound  in  the  aston- 
ished ears  of  the  living  and  the  dead  at  the  resurrection 
morning.  And  God,  in  His  infinite  mercy,  grant  that  we 
may  be  in  the  number  of  those  who  are  now  in  the  bosom 
of  Abraham. 


THE    END. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 
Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  priod  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

fiffi'DlD  JUiU472-2PN13  1 

r^  r"  r\ 

^^^    9  1974  du- 

ttfi.  MHHnf  /SjG  1  5  74 

pcfDcaRCDffi.     «■««» 

AUG  2  0  1978                            ^ 

•           '  '^        ■                            !        "  J 

REC.C1R.  DEC     8  ^"^ 


DEC  18  1996 


Riumm^f^?\'% 


/.H/ 


0"St 


LD21A-60m-8,'70 
(N8837sl0)476— A-32 


Rteptpw" 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


T^n  21-100m-7.'33 


U  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CDS71D713M 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


